Love and Physics
by 1Syphira
Summary: Elsa Winters, savant, scientist, and genius, has just begun her new life as a brilliant physics professor, and all seems perfect in her new life. But when Anna, a young and equally brilliant student comes into her life, she's about to find out just how ill prepared for real life she really is. Elsanna smut, NOT sisters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Too crazy to own it, too lazy to try. So don't sue!

**Genre:** AU, romance, humor, drama, mild angst, mild OOCness.

**Warnings:** This will contain eventual smut. You've been warned!

**Author's Note:** Hello lovely Frozen fans! I've decided to post this older story of mine in this archive because I love Elsanna, and I would like to see how it is received. Thank you all for your support and kind reviews on "The Queen's Consort!" And don't worry, I'm not going to abandon that fic. :D Love and kisses to you all! ^.^

**Chapter One**

Elsa Winters had been considered a savant since birth. Not only was she born a month early, she learned to speak before most children, learned a second language tender age of two, graduated elementary school at six, graduated high school at twelve (with about a dozen completed college courses), and at the age of twenty-one had two PhD's in Chemistry, with an emphasis in thermodynamics, and astrophysics with an emphasis in electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and particle physics. Now, at twenty-two, she had tenure at the University of Washington. The previous professor who held the position had recently moved to Switzerland to work at the European Organization for Nuclear Research. And although dozens of professors across the United States had applied for the job, the board of directors had pretty much handed her the job before interviewing anyone else.

Elsa took several slow, deep breaths as she stared, stony faced, at her reflection in her bathroom mirror. Her platinum blonde hair was braided and tied in a tight bun atop her head, her makeup was in perfect order, and her business suit had perfectly ironed the night before. Being twenty-two and having tenure, surrounded by academics who had been teaching as long as she had been alive was . . . intimidating, to say the least. She knew she had a lot to prove, especially on her first day. She had to take three sleeping pills the day before to ensure at least three hours of sleep. She now had three shots of dark espresso lined up in a neat row next to the sink to shake off the sleeping pills.

"The first day will be over soon. This will all be over soon," she said to her reflection. The attempt at reassurance failed quite miserably. If anything, the knots in her stomach tightened.

"How can you be stressed? Look at you!" she exclaimed. '_Yeah, nothing to worry about. Just all the students and faculty watching your every move, hoping to see the "savant" fail. It'd be good for a laugh, right?'_

After another heavy sigh, she downed her first shot of espresso. She knew what people expected would happen. The dean had given her quite the pompous speech about how student/teacher relationships were strictly forbidden, under threat of termination of employment. She especially had certain expectations as a young, unmarried professor to uphold the honorable reputation of the University.

She had a feeling the dean expected her to fall for the first guy who flashed a pretty smile. She scowled. If there was one thing that would _not_ get her fired, it would be a horny college boy. She had things to prove. She wasn't about to let some pretty boy with a fetish for teachers ruin her career.

She tossed back her second espresso, put on her dark-rimmed glasses, straightened her black pin-stripe skirt, double checked her checklist, then downed her final espresso. She pulled a face. She hated the stuff, but it was a necessary part of her morning ritual. She hated mornings.

Then, making sure her hair was still in perfect order, she grabbed her keys and headed out of her immaculate apartment.

* * *

Anna Summers stood in the parking lot of the University of Washington, staring at the buildings with a smile so bright it could put the sun to shame. Giddy butterflies seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her stomach. She had been looking forward to college since she was six years old. At seven she had sent three colleges a letter of intent, telling them, "she would be very interested to participate in their academic program." She grew up in Seattle so of course UW had been one of the three colleges, Harvard and Oxford being the other two. She'd been accepted to all three, but she decided on UW, mostly because she'd spent a lot of her teens far from home, and wanted to spend some time closer to her parents.

Today, being her twenty-first birthday, she could think of no better way to spend it than learning new things. What better birthday present could there be?

She would have happily started college when she graduated high school, but her parents, wanting her to experience more of the world first, had paid for her to backpack across Europe for a couple of years. They were textbook hippies; they wanted more for her than just textbooks. She didn't blame them for the decision. Her fondness of learning was probably more of an obsession. She didn't enjoy the entirety of the school experience, she just loved the learning part. Even if she didn't understand the subject matter, she still loved it.

But understanding the subject matter had never been a problem. In grade school she would intentionally answer test questions wrong sometimes just so she wouldn't skip any grades. She didn't want to finish school on the fast track. She wanted the full learning experience. Her favorite part of getting home was homework. When everyone else in her classes was ready to burst into tears from all the homework, she would be singing all the way home.

So she went backpacking across Europe for a couple of years. Of course while she was there, she snuck into all sorts of colleges while there. She had picked up six languages because of it, learned quite a few invaluable culinary tricks, and various other skills.

She glanced down at her schedule for the day one last time then tossed it on the seat of her car. She didn't actually need to double-check it. She had a photographic memory. It was more out of giddiness that she had done it. Then she grabbed her Starbucks coffee and skipped across the parking lot and through the front door.

* * *

By the time she made it through her day, Elsa was feeling surprisingly good about her job. The faculty seemed to care much less about her tenure than she thought they would, and no male students had asked her out. She really didn't understand the courtship process at all. She could understand black hole thermodynamics (and was very close to disproving the Hawking formula altogether) and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, and yet she couldn't understand when someone was flirting.

Nor could she understand why they should want to flirt with her. She had no desire to reproduce to continue the human species. There were certainly plenty more qualified females than herself. She was far more interested in discovering dark matter in the cosmos than bringing more children into the small dust speck that was Earth. Evolutionarily speaking, her contribution to the genetic pool would be entirely unnecessary in her opinion. And as such, courting would be unnecessary as well.

She pushed it from her mind and focused back in on her last class of the day: General Physics. Even that proved to be difficult. She was far more excited to debate physics theories with a couple of other physics professors after class. Her thesis had the community in an uproar because she was well on her way to disprove the Hawking Formula. If all went well, she might even be able to meet Steven Hawking himself. After he had announced to the scientific community that his equation was incorrect, but gave no scientific framework to back it up, scientists all over the globe were scrambling to figure it out.

A month ago her thesis had been published in Science Magazine and because of it she'd gotten more emails in the last month that she'd ever received her whole life. The whole thing was just too much. She didn't get into astrophysics for publicity; she'd gotten in it because she liked holing up in labs, the feel of chalk on her hands and the sight of chalkboards filled with equations. It was all very soothing. But now, to top it off, she had an interview on New Day Northwest next Monday.

Elsa straightened her laptop so it was perfectly in the middle of her podium. Well, it looked perfectly square. It annoyed her that she couldn't actually tell on an atomic level if it was perfectly square. She didn't want to think about her interview. She didn't mind teaching because she could communicate with students. She also spent considerable time learning how to teach. But to speak with one person knowing there were thousands of viewers that couldn't ask questions about the topic of discussion . . . It was stressful just thinking about it. She would much rather have a lecture hall full of inquisitive students than a camera that didn't let her know if the audience had questions. She didn't just want to say "I'm close to disproving the Hawking Formula." People probably wouldn't understand how she could be "close" without a bit of groundwork. Which was understandable. But her interview was only twenty minutes long; hardly enough time to establish any kind of framework, let alone any that made sense to someone who had no background in physics.

Her thoughts were interrupted when students began filtering in. She wrote her name neatly on the chalkboard then set it down with her other three pieces of chalk in a nice neat row. There had been four but she had stashed it away. There had to be three. She liked the number three. It reminded her of the number pi, and pi was a complete obsession of hers. She had the first three hundred and thirty three numbers of pi memorized. She glanced down at her watch and at exactly one o'clock turned around and smiled at her class.

"Good afternoon. I am your physics professor, and this is General Physics in case you've forgotten where you are. You're welcome to those of you in the wrong class."

There was an audible chuckle across the hall. To her surprise a couple of students got up and left after a "Damn it, are you serious? Where the hell is the Physics by Inquiry lecture hall?!" After quietly watching them leave, she turned back to the class.

"Moving right along, I am Professor Winters. You may call me Professor Winters or Doctor Winters so there is no confusion about whether I am a student or teacher. Questions?"

A couple of students raised their hands. She pointed to one of them. "Yes? What is your name and what may I do for you?"

The student shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "I'm Kristoff."

"Nice to meet you Kristoff."

"Uh . . . thanks. So you're really our physics professor? You're like . . . twenty."

Another sound of amusement passed through the room. '_How astute of you_,' she thought with mild annoyance.

"I am twenty-two. But let me assure you, I would not be standing here if I were unqualified. Am I to assume you are new to this university?"

He nodded, still looking uncomfortable.

"In the future, you may wish to get to know your teachers before your first day of class. It will help you in your future academic goals."

He nodded again and everyone else put their hands down. Choosing to analyze that later, she turned back to the chalkboard and began her class.

* * *

Anna Summers was having a hard time concentrating. Not that she didn't understand General Physics, she just found the professor incredibly distracting. Not that "Professor Winters" was doing a bad job, the woman was insanely intelligent, but there was just something _magical_ about her. When she first saw the woman, her whole body filled with what could only be described as lightning. Anna was aware of Professor Winter's age; she (unlike the unfortunate "Kristoff") had done her research on all her teachers, but she wasn't anymore excited about meeting her any more than the others.

All she knew was, that tidy black pin-stripe skirt in combination with those legs was, for lack of a more scientific term, hot. In fact, the whole ensemble was hot. The perfectly fixed platinum hair, the shocking blue eyes hidden behind dark-rimmed glasses . . . it was all hot.

She even enjoyed the flashes of O.C.D. that trickled through. This was obviously a very focused individual, and Anna had always been drawn to that quality. The professor had a methodical teaching style - a perfect blend of humor and seriousness. Almost too methodical. It was like she didn't really understand her own humor, she just used it because she knew it made people laugh, and thus, make them listen. To top it off, Professor Winters very aware of her posture - poised, approachable, and professional. Just watching her was like watching a documentary on some complex, well-oiled machine.

More than anything else, this young professor was so sweetly vulnerable behind her cool façade. She clearly put immeasurable thought into her every word, every gesture, every step, and that meant she cared a great deal about people's perception of her. Or she cared about her perception of herself. Anna suddenly became aware of her own posture. She was slouching all over her chair. She shrugged it off about a second later. It was comfortable and she had nothing to prove to anyone. Except perhaps Professor Winters. She decided to look into it.

* * *

At exactly three o'clock Elsa glanced at her laptop clock, then placed the chalk down in its proper place. She turned to her class.

"Thank you for a very good first day. I look forward to seeing you on Wednesday. Please note I lock my classroom door at exactly one o'clock, so you will be unable to enter this class late. If you are incapable of being punctual, you will find it difficult to retain a steady job after graduation. Today was the exception because it is your first day."

Half the class winced at that announcement but no one questioned it. This was a university after all. She began cleaning the chalkboard with meticulous care and about jumped out of her skin when a young woman began cleaning with her.

"May I help . . . you . . .?" she trailed off when she saw the other.

Her body was flooded with overwhelming warmth, similar to the feeling of stepping into a sauna from a cold pool. Elsa's eyes started at the girl's feet, which were inside a pair of size eight pink and black Globe skater shoes, then moved to impossibly smooth freckled legs partially covered by a pair of beige cargo shorts, to her slender but curved waistline. Her torso sported a form-fitting, black zip-up hoodie covered with tie-dye peace symbols. The ensemble was tomboyish, yet still managed to look feminine. Her eyes were a hypnotizing turquoise, and topping off the work of art was a crown of silky ginger hair. Elsa's knees buckled.

Fortunately she had fast reflexes so she quickly dropped her eraser to hide her embarrassment. She bent to pick it up just as the girl did and their hands touched. The very light particles of the color red flushed her cheeks and her heart pounded uncontrollably.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the girl said. If there were a sound scientifically proven to be pleasant to human ears, that voice would be it. It was like listening to butter toffee. Elsa really didn't understand that, but she decided not to try and analyze it.

"It is quite all right, I startle ridiculously easily," she said upon finding her voice. She was trying not to look at the girl. She found this to be an insurmountable task.

"I'm Anna. Anna Summers."

Elsa saw the girl's outstretched hand and had to bite her lower lip to hide apprehension. She shook it anyway; she was nothing if not polite. It was a million times worse than when their hands brushed. A violent tingling sensation started at her hand and shot through her body like someone had just splashed a bucket of water on her. There was an authenticity to Anna's handshake. It wasn't loose and disinterested; it was firm and reassuring. She had learned from years of shaking hands that a handshake said a lot about a person. This one exuded "trust me."

"I just wanted to say, you have a fascinating teaching method. I've been to tons of schools and seen lots of teachers, but none of them have ever put as much thought into it as you obviously do," Anna said in a voice that continued to sound like butter in Elsa's ears.

Elsa cleared her throat and busied herself with the chalkboard again. "Do I? It is good to hear I am not boring. You have an interesting last name. Where does it originate?"

Anna smiled—an action that made Elsa's eyes wander to those lips. "My parents took it on when they got married. They didn't want each other's names because they're big on equality in all things 'relationship.' So, being the awesome hippies that they are, they came up with Summers."

"A good choice. Did they have any specific reason in mind when they came up with it?"

"Well, they used to drive cross-country together before they got married. They would get up early to watch the sun rise wherever they were in their 1969 VW Hippie Van, so it just became their thing. I have it on good authority they almost named me Tequila."

"Tequila?" she repeated, failing to bite back a smile. "Tequila Summers? There's a name that would be a great ice-breaker at business meetings and parties."

Anna laughed. "Yes, I am glad they went for Anna. Of course, my middle initial is 'T' so I didn't quite escape the silliness that is my parents."

Elsa paused her erasing. "Did they? No."

Anna's eyes were twinkling with laughter. "They did. Anna Tequila Summers is my full name."

Elsa stifled a grin. "I think I would very much like to meet your parents."

"So how about you Professor Winters? That isn't a name you hear every day."

"Nothing so modern as that. My mother took on my father's name.'"

Anna's smile widened. "Well I like it. Even if it seems a little egocentric of me to say it, I like having a last name similar to one of my professor's. Anyway, the other reason I stopped by is because I'm very interested in attending the seminar you're hosting tonight. I love listening to scientists debate."

Elsa had to pause to collect her thoughts. Most students would rather die than listen to a bunch of scholars verbally duke it out. Who was this odd young woman?

"I could get you a copy of my seminar schedule for the semester if you like," she said. "Most of my seminars are not invite only, but if they are, I'll make sure to get you an invite."

"I would love that!" Anna exclaimed. "And actually, we could save paper if you just email it to me. Here." She dug around in her backpack until she found a pen and Post-It note. "Here's my email. If anything on the schedule changes just shoot me an email if it's no trouble. Like I said, I really enjoy seminars. When I first discovered the TED Conferences were available online I believe my parents didn't see me for about two months. I had a lot of TED talks to catch up on."

Elsa kept finding herself smiling. She was beginning to feel more self-conscious than normal because of it, but she also couldn't regret it. Most parents didn't see their children for months after buying them an X-Box, not after their child discovered TED talks. "Have you ever been to the TED Conference?"

"I wish. It's one of my life goals."

For reasons Elsa was unable to stop or explain, she said, "I was just invited to speak at the November Conference in New York. I could probably get you an invite if you would like to go with me."

Sunlight filled Anna's face. It was like seeing a child at Christmas that had just opened the present they wanted more than anything in the whole world. "Really?! Oh man, I knew you were going to be my favorite teacher! Just give me a price estimate and I'll—"

"No need to pay," Elsa waved her off. "I get to bring one guest free of charge. I actually didn't have anyone in mind, but since it means that much to you, I'd be honored to have you along."

"Seriously, you are the best teacher ever. Oh man, thank you thank you thank you! Ah crap, I gotta go to class, I'll see you Wednesday, okay? You have no idea how awesome this is!"

Anna grabbed her phone out of her pocket and began calling someone, then she turned and skipped out of the room, leaving a very flustered, but smiling, Elsa Winters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Evening came and an uncomfortable clump of knots settled in Elsa's stomach with the setting sun. She wasn't nervous about debating her colleagues - she was nervous about Anna Summers being there. She'd only been teaching at the university for two weeks now and already another seminar was scheduled for tonight. The first one had gone quite well, but they hadn't the time to debate everything they wished to debate, so another one was quickly scheduled.

She looked around her office looking for something to distract herself. There was of course nothing. Her office was in such perfect order it put the universe at large to shame. She'd be damned if the Uncertainty Principle was going to mess up her office. Of course the odds of that happening were astronomically low, but she enjoyed the thought of the universe failing at something as simple as messing up her office.

As if on cue, the office door flew open sending the neat pile of "needs to be graded" papers flying every which-way with the following air current. With a squeal of dismay, Elsa launched herself at the pile in vain attempt to rescue it from disarray.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry!"

Elsa stopped what she was doing when she heard the voice. It was Anna. Of course it was. _'Damn it.'_ The student had already stooped to help pick up the wayward papers by the time Elsa managed to collect her wits.

"Miss Summers, what are you doing here?" she asked, hoping she came across nonchalant. She highly doubted she succeeded. Her voice sounded high-pitched, even to her own ears.

"Well I thought I would walk with you to the seminar since we're both going. I'm sorry I should have knocked. I have this really bad habit of . . . well not knocking on doors. I can assure you I've regretted the nasty habit on many occasions while living with my parents."

Elsa coughed politely. "It is quite all right. My door is always open to my students. If I really didn't want someone to enter, I would have locked it."

"Tell you what, I'll get you a paperweight to make up for it," Anna said, handing her some fallen paper.

A quick glance let Elsa know her once perfect stack of paper was now completely out of order. She glanced anxiously at the clock on her laptop. She still had ten minutes before the debate, but it took approximately six minutes to get to the auditorium. Four minutes was enough. She began putting them back in the same order as before.

"Say, if you need help grading papers, I'm signed up with the T.A. program," Anna said, digging around in her bag, and a moment later withdrew a package of gum.

Elsa grinned. "Is there anything for which you are not signed up?"

"Theatre," Anna replied, popping two pieces of gum in her mouth. "I can't act to save my life. Well, I'm not officially signed up, but the director lets me sit in on rehearsals. He gave up on trying to kick me out of the theatre."

"You like watching rehearsals? Doesn't that get a bit tedious after a while?"

"Not at all, are you kidding? I love watching the creative process. I'm pretty sure all the theatre kids think I'm a little crazy, but I don't mind."

Elsa closed her laptop and tucked it under her arm. "We should probably get heading out. The auditorium is about a six minute walk from here."

As they began walking down the hall, Anna eyed the laptop. "You never seem to have that thing plugged in, but it never seems to run out of battery. What's your secret?"

Elsa glanced absently at the computer tucked under her arm. "Oh factory laptops aren't made nearly as well as they could be, so I made my own. The battery was the trickiest part, but I just figured out how to make it much more energy efficient. The prototype is similar to any battery you would find in the store, but, there's a small tube of salt water instead of acid. I'm actually looking into selling the concept."

Anna grinned. "Just made your own laptop, eh? Dell would be so disappointed. "

"Well I have to stick it to the man somehow."

"Oooh, the prodigal professor has a rebellious side! I knew I'd find it eventually. Everyone should have a healthy rebellious side."

"No, no I just . . . I'm just . . ." Elsa stumbled over her words. She was quickly discovering it was difficult to properly articulate thoughts when she was around Anna.

Anna laughed. "I was teasing you, Professor. I think it's amazing. How long does your battery last anyway?"

"Without turning it off or putting it in sleep mode, it can go about twenty-four hours. Maybe longer if I don't run too many programs, but I usually have at least thirteen programs running at any given time."

Anna stared at her for a moment, then nearly choked on her gum and began coughing violently.

Elsa reflexively reached out her hand and began patting Anna on the back. "Oh my, are you all right?"

Fortunately, she noticed Anna was laughing between coughs. "Holy crap, Professor," she choked out. "Don't tell Duracell or Energizer about that. They'd probably send out a team of hit men to extract the technology and kill you so they wouldn't have to pay to buy the idea from you. I mean for God's sake, you could probably sell that for millions."

"Are you sure you're all right, Miss Summers?"

Anna loudly cleared her throat. "Yeah I'm okay. I just wasn't expecting you to say twenty-four hours. I think the best on the market is like five hours, and that's if you don't have any programs open! And since when do batteries run on salt water?"

Elsa blushed. "Well, the technology is already out there, but there's no money in something that anyone can just refill themselves. The military uses a version of it for some of their expedition and survival gear. The prototype I made is a bit more practical for household use, though. Ideas like this are usually bought out by oil companies then put on the shelf to collect dust. Where would oil companies be if cars ran on salt water? Out of a job."

"Where did you make it? Are you one of those people who has a laboratory in your basement?" Anna asked with a mischievous grin.

Elsa rolled her eyes with a smile. "Nothing so convenient as that. I used the university's computer engineering department lab. It helped that I'm friends with most of the professors in the Mechanical Engineering department, so I ha a lot of equipment at my disposal."

"So is it easy to refill the water compartment?"

Elsa pressed a small button on the side of the laptop and a small plastic tube popped out. She pulled it out the rest of the way and offered it to Anna. It was shaped similar to that of any "AA" battery, just a bit larger and ma

"That's it? It's so small! So this little plastic tube of water can power your laptop for twenty-four hours? What is this, a hundred milliliters?"

"Close. It's eighty five. And yes, you'd be surprised how little salt water it takes, with the right conductor, to power a laptop. The key was in the conductor, which this tube attaches to, more than anything."

"That's what, three and a half milliliters per hour? Yes, I'd say it takes very little indeed," Anna said, still looking shocked.

Elsa may have commented further but the auditorium suddenly appeared in front of them. Well, it didn't just "appear," they reached their destination by utilizing the power of their moving feet and legs, but it felt like it appeared to Elsa.

"You ready to knock 'em dead, Professor?" Anna asked, handing back the tube.

Elsa smiled and straightened her back. "Absolutely!"

* * *

Anna tried for about an hour to keep up with all the formulas scrawling across six chalkboards, but it was a _bit_ hard to follow. She used her tablet to take pictures of the equations, then made some of her own notes, but her attention became too torn between her tablet notes and listening to the professors to get anything useful accomplished. Despite all that, she still enjoyed herself immensely though. She loved passionate people, and these highly intelligent professors were obviously passionately in love with their craft.

But the main reason for Anna's inability to concentrate, if she was being honest with herself, was Elsa. She was just so much more interesting than all those damn equations. Much like watching an professional dancer, this young woman was passionate, graceful, and incredibly focused.

In an attempt to distract herself from a certain beautiful blonde, Anna looked around the auditorium. Surprisingly, several dozen people were in attendance, but most of them looked lost. A couple of grad students looked determined keep up but pretty much everyone else had given up. There was even a student from the school newspaper who looked like she was about to burst into tears as she tried desperately to take notes on her laptop.

People watching quickly lost its appeal, so she decided to text her best friend instead. She'd met him while backpacking through Switzerland, and they'd hit it off so well, he decided to spend some time in the U.S. as a foreign exchange student.

Anna: [_Hey Devil, what you doing?_]

Olaf: [_Hey Ginger. I'm higher than a kite. You?_]

Anna: [_I'm at a physics seminar._]

Olaf: [_Nerd._]

Anna: [_If you could see the HOT professor debating at the seminar, you would probably change your tune._]

Olaf: [_Hot physics professor? Aren't they all like 70-year-old dudes?_]

Anna: [_Stereotyping is wrong, Devil. She's a savant. She's only 22 and has 2 PhD's._]

Olaf: [_Damn! If I'd known I would have joined you! And since when does UW have a child genius professor?_]

Anna: [_She started this year. The guy she replaced shipped off to Europe to work at CERN._]

Olaf: [_WTF is that? Some nerdy convention?_]

Anna: [_No, you silly dope, it's home to the world's largest Large Hadron Collider. Considering you're from Switzerland, how the hell don't you know about it? It's only the biggest research facility in your entire country._]

Olaf: [_I'm an architect, not an engineer. What do I care for giant physics nerd buildings? I'm more interested in hearing about the hottie physics professor. Details woman!_]

Anna: [_She has a pair of legs that just won't quit._]

Olaf: [_Do I sense a bit of an ambiguous student/professor crush?_]

Anna: [_*cough* not at all. Gotta go, they're wrapping up the debate_.]

Olaf: [_Nice save. We'll continue this later._]

Anna: [_Can't wait_.]

Grinning and shaking her head, she tucked her phone away in her pocket. She glanced at the clock on her tablet and about fell out of her chair. When in the world had it turned eleven o'clock? '_Damn, physicists are hardcore!'_

She hopped out of her seat and met Elsa in the isle on her way to the door. "I'm not quite sure of the specifics, but I'm pretty sure you won."

Her professor smiled. "We're close. We're so close I can practically feel it. Next stop, Steven Hawking!"

"That's the spirit!" Anna beamed. "Well I'm off to meet up with a friend. See you in class on Wednesday?"

"You know it," Elsa replied with a small grin.

"It was really nice of you to invite me, Professor. I look forward to being your T.A."

"As do I," Elsa replied.

They lingered in the doorway for a moment longer than was strictly necessary before going their separate ways. Anna wanted to invite Elsa to come hang out with her and Olaf or out to coffee or something, but she also didn't want to push the student/teacher boundary. She certainly had no such desires to consume coffee with any of her other teachers.

Sighing wistfully, Anna resigned herself to an evening of video games with Olaf and tried desperately not to think about Elsa.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **To the guest reviewer bitching about the science behind Elsa's laptop battery: this is a fan fiction. The answer to your concerns is: because science. This isn't a college level textbook about electrical current, it's a fan fiction. Let's all agree: because science.

* * *

**Chapter Three**

Bright and early the next morning Anna went to the nearest Starbucks and grabbed a couple of Pumpkin Spice Lattes. She just hoped Elsa wasn't allergic to pumpkin. When she arrived at her professor's office she was glad to see the door open.

"Good morning, Professor Winters," she said with a huge smile.

Her professor glanced up with a look that clearly stated she was _not_ a morning person. Despite the somewhat crabby expression on her face, she still looked like a million dollars in her business attire – another pinstripe skirt and jacket with a sky blue satin blouse underneath. Her platinum hair was braided and in her usual bun, and her dark rim glasses were just a tiny bit askew on her nose.

"Miss Summers," came the short greeting.

Anna giggled at the lovely sight before her. "My best friend isn't a morning person either. He's downright murderous in the morning. I brought you something that might help," she said, placing the 20 ounce coffee cup on her desk.

Elsa gave it a look of confusion. "What is this?"

"Pumpkin Spice Latte. You're not allergic to pumpkin are you? It's my favorite. I guess I should have shot you a text and asked."

"No, I mean . . . this is coffee?"

"What?"

"I have never had a Starbucks drink," she continued.

"What? Wait . . . what?" Anna stumbled for words. "You live in Seattle, the coffee capital of the nation, and you've never had _Starbucks_?"

"It was never necessary. My parents had an espresso machine, and when I moved out I bought my own."

"Necessity has nothing to do with it!" Anna burst out. "You drink Starbucks because it's good stuff!"

Elsa blinked. She looked as though Anna were speaking a completely foreign language.

"Do you even like espresso?" Anna asked.

"Not at all. But I require three shots of espresso in the morning to help clear my mind."

"You drink straight up espresso? By itself with no milk or sugar or anything?"

"It's faster to just drink the espresso in three shots."

"Okay, just try your drink. You have to experience coffee as it was meant to be drunk."

Elsa gave the cup a look of apprehension but took a careful sip nonetheless. About three heartbeats passed before a look of profound ecstasy filled Elsa's face.

"Oh my . . ." Elsa breathed.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of lattes," Anna said with a light laugh.

Elsa polished off the drink in about three minutes flat.

"Oh my," Elsa said, eyeing the cup in dismay of its current empty state.

"Haven't you ever been to the coffee shops in town?" Anna asked, leaning against the desk.

"I have spent the vast majority of my life in school. I don't get out much."

"Seriously? I mean I get not having the time to party, given how young you were when you finished high school, but you haven't even been to a Starbucks? This is Seattle. There's a Starbucks on every corner. Or possibly two."

"My parents were more interested in my curriculum than 'fun.' It was simply never necessary for me to go through the normal stages of adolescence. I do not resent them; they certainly had their own set of challenges finding an education program that worked for my particular requirements."

Anna took another huge swallow of her latte. "If you were still a student, I'd take you out to all the best haunts. A friend of mine is a DJ at a club called Liquid Poison. They have great bouncers and great music. If you ever get out on a weekend, that's the best place to go."

"Oh my. I am not into the 'clubbing' scene. I was taught how to foxtrot, not 'rock out.'"

"You can dance the foxtrot? Seriously, is there anything you can't do?" She glanced at her cell phone clock. "Oh crap I gotta run, just thought I'd bring you some coffee before class. It looks like it was just what the doctor ordered! Okay gotta go, see you later!"

Then she flounced out with a huge smile plastered all over her face.

* * *

The next few weeks were significantly less pleasant than Elsa's first two weeks at UW. Anna was an extremely helpful T.A., but that wasn't the problem. She was an extremely attentive student, that wasn't the problem either. It was something else. Elsa kept catching herself thinking about that delightful little redhead. The whole ordeal was making it difficult to focus, and that was not something to which Elsa was accustomed. It wasn't a problem with any of the classes she taught except on the two Anna was in on Monday and Wednesday.

But then her focus was broken further when Anna started bringing her coffee every morning, then dropping by to help with photocopying and paper grading after quite a few classes periodically through the week.

Mornings were the worst. Anna always greeted her with what Elsa liked to think of as "a summer smile." Every little thing about Anna drove her to distraction. What was it about this girl that had her so preoccupied? She'd never really had friends—she went to school with people who were a lot older than she, so "friendships" existed more out of professional courtesy than genuine interest. She was still in communication with the professor she had replaced, Doctor Kai Taylor, but he was more of a friendly colleague than a friend. Was her interest in Anna merely friendship?

She straightened her glasses and placed her hands on her laptop keyboard. Her hands hovered over the keys as she formulated what she wanted to email Doctor Taylor. She felt more comfortable emailing him slightly more personal things since he was no longer her professor, but she also didn't share her feelings easily.

After several minutes of mental deliberation, she decided to shove any thoughts of Anna from her head and simply write about school.

_My Dear Doctor Taylor,_

_Well I have survived my first month of employment at UW without too many battle scars. The students are surprisingly kind with few exceptions. The ones I refer to as "unkind" are the ones who fall asleep during lectures. I followed your example and purchased a Whoopi Cushion to wake the Sleepers. I even had a student fall asleep in the laboratory once. I popped a balloon in response and he hasn't fallen asleep since. I am beginning to worry about my students' sleeping patterns. They seem so irregular._

_Oh goodness, I forgot to tell you, I was invited to the TED Conference this year in New York! I hope very much to see you there! Perhaps we could catch lunch if you can make it? I am taking a particularly bright and inquisitive student with me—Anna Summers. I have high hopes for her; she is remarkably dedicated to her academic future. You won't believe this, but she actually said one of her life goals was to go to the TED Conference! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to support such a wonderful goal. If only there were more students like her. I've already had several papers to which I had to give a well-deserved "F." Oh but I hate giving papers "F's!" I do try to make the material understandable, and I make myself available for questions for at least three hours every day. I have also given everyone a list of highly recommended tutors. I just don't understand how they are still failing assignments. Perhaps I am making the class too difficult? I know no other way to teach physics. Physics is no walk in the park, as they say, so how can I possibly make it easy? _

_By the way, you have been holding out on me Professor. I frequently saw you drinking mugs of coffee but you never told me how good it was! Anna introduced me to Starbucks for the very first time and now I cannot get enough of the Pumpkin Spice lattes! She brings me one every morning now. I do wish she would bring three 12 oz. Instead of one 24 oz., but I do not wish to be demanding. She is volunteering after all._

_I do miss having you around my dear Doctor Taylor. I would have loved to share a latte or two with you. I hope for your sake they have Starbucks in Switzerland. Take care!_

_Sincerely,_

_Doctor Winters_

* * *

"Olaf . . . I have a problem."

"Ah shit, what did I do now?"

Anna grinned. "No not you, silly."

She flopped down in his gamer chair and helped herself to a can of Redbull from his dorm's mini-fridge. She picked up a controller and logged onto his Xbox, booting him out of his current versus battle of Halo 3 in the process.

"I was playing that!" he whined from his bed, which he was currently sprawled on.

"Let's play the co-op campaign. It's more fun than capture the flag."

"Fine but you owe me a rematch later."

At around 2:00 am, Anna went for her third can of Redbull. It amazed her that Olaf ever made it to his classes; he did this every night, even weekdays. His major was architecture and design –hardly a walk in the park - but she knew the only reason he chose that major was so he could design his own nightclub someday. His minor, oddly, was linguistics.

She glanced over at him. People frequently asked them why they weren't a couple and she could understand why they asked it; he was insanely attractive. He was tall and lean with broad shoulders and a thick hank of silver-dyed hair. But to her, he was like the brother she never had.

"Have you ever had a crush on a teacher?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied without hesitation. "Who the hell hasn't?"

"What about since college? Ever had a crush on a professor?"

"Sure. Have you ever seen the cougar who teaches French?"

"Yeah, I went to one of your classes with you last week, remember?"

"Oh yeah. Where does the time go?" he asked without a hint of caring.

"If she were single, would you ask her out?" Anna pressed.

"I don't know. Can't teachers get fired for that shit? Wait . . . actually I'd probably risk it. She is freakin' hot. I'm totally into forbidden office affairs. I've always wanted to do it with a teacher on her desk."

That put a visual in Anna's head that made her blush. Suddenly all she could think about was a certain young physics professor . . . sitting on her desk . . . legs spread . . . Anna's face buried between them . . .

"You gonna tell me why you keep asking?" he said, pausing his game to look at her.

She hid behind another huge swig of Redbull. "I'm crazy about Professor Winters."

He just looked at her for an undetermined amount of time with a crooked grin on his face.

"That's hot."

She chucked a pillow at him. He laughed good-naturedly and tossed it back to her.

"What's the big deal? Ask her out. If Dean Westlepants has a problem with it, tell him to go 'procreate' with himself."

"It just seems so unfair that she can't date students. I mean, she's only twenty-two. She's spent her whole life hiding in a textbook. I'd say she deserves a little leeway."

"Ooooh, and you're going to be alone with her in New York for a week. What are you going to do then, you naughty little fox? The two of you, alone, with no witnesses . . ."

"You're not helping."

"Well, what do you want me to say? That you shouldn't have a steamy office affair with the physics hottie? Forget it. I think you should go for it."

"See, this is why I like asking for advice from you. Now I know what _not_ to do."

"Just because I have no ethical limitations doesn't mean you shouldn't listen to me. Wait . . . yes it does. You're right, you should start avoiding her. You could get her fired for that shit."

"It worries me when you say things that make sense. Now let's get the hell out of here. Wanna hit hit up Liquid Poison?"

"Thought you'd never ask. I'll get a taxi."

* * *

Across town, Elsa was also finding it difficult to sleep. She was currently busying herself with the talk she was to give at the TED Conference. She had been agonizing over it since she'd gotten the invitation to speak, but after hours of editing, it was finally complete.

She then decided to play some online chess, even though all the usual people were getting too easy to defeat. But it was something to do to take her mind off a certain freckled redhead.

She started when her computer squawked telling her she had an incoming email. She quickly opened it when she saw it was from Doctor Taylor.

_My Dear Miss Winters,_

_It is so good to hear from you! I apologize I haven't emailed sooner, it has been very busy here at CERN. We are continuing the ATLAS Experiment with the Large Hadron Collider with astounding new results by the hour. I tell you, I don't believe I will ever tire of this job._

_It is good to hear you are settling in at UW. Don't worry so much about your teaching skills. I have the utmost faith in your ability to teach difficult subject matter. No matter how hard you try, there will always be those students who fail. It is a lesson hard learned. The more you try, the faster it will destroy your spirit. Sometimes students just don't want to succeed. It is an unfortunate truth. All you can do is your best. No one can ask more of you than that._

_I cannot make it to the TED Conference this year, I am very sorry to say. I am happy to hear you found a student that is so enthusiastic, though! Hold on to students like that, they are like air to people like you and I. As for the coffee . . . My goodness, sometimes I forget you had such limited exposure to the outside world. How could you be immersed in the world of academia and never had a decent cup of coffee? You know what? When you go to New York, make sure to see the town a bit, will you do that for me? Go see Broadway, experience some New York life!_

_Anyway, I must away, my research calls. I look forward to hearing from you, tell me all about TED._

_Sincerely,_

_Doctor Kai Taylor_

Elsa sighed heavily. Being told to hold onto a student like Anna didn't at all make her feel better or less confused about her current predicament. She slammed her laptop shut and resigned herself to another restless rainy night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Holy cow! This story is already apart of two communities! Thank you so much!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Having tenure at a prestigious university, as well as inheriting quite a healthy sum of money from her parents when she turned twenty one, had its benefits. One of those benefits was flying first class in gigantic air planes. The University of Washington generously paid for her and Anna's plane tickets in second class seats, but Elsa had promptly upgraded them to first class. Elsa couldn't abide air travel, let alone being crammed in an airplane with perfect strangers for six hours straight. Flying first class at least eased her mild terror of planes.

She contentedly sipped a glass of Merlot given to her by a very polite stewardess, when Anna suddenly pulled out a magnetic travel chess set, then placed it on the armrest between them.

"I know you want to play. I can sense it with my Jedi powers," Anna said with a playful grin.

Elsa's stomach tightened. The last thing she wanted to do was alienate her favorite student with her competitive nature. Not to say she assumed she would win, she just preferred playing people she didn't know so she didn't have to worry about alienating them. She'd never actually played against a friend. She once witnessed a couple of colleague's friendship destroyed by chess because they were both so competitive. Since then she vowed never to play a friend.

"Don't worry, I won't rub it in your face when I win," Anna continued, her smirk widening. "I'll even let you play first."

Elsa hesitated. "I don't really play . . ." She grimaced at the terrible lie. Since when was she in the habit of lying?

"Ah come on, it'll kill time. We have six hours to burn."

Elsa was finding it more and more difficult to deny Anna anything, let alone a simple game of chess. It was starting to cause all kinds of conflicting emotions within her, ranging from absurd happiness, to complete dread.

Elsa nibbled her lower lip, but she'd known as soon as Anna asked that she'd give in. "Very well."

Six hours later Elsa was staring at the chessboard in complete disbelief. The game was a stalemate. Both were down to their last two pieces, a rook and the king. Anna leaned back in her chair with a self-satisfied smirk all over her beautiful red lips and took a sip of her Strongbow hard cider. Elsa had tried everything in the book, from attempting to lure her opponent into a trap, to just being downright aggressive. But no matter what she tried, those last two pieces always managed to escape her.

The stewardess' voice suddenly filled the intercom, startling her out of her puzzlement. "The plane is now descending, please buckle your safety belt and remain seated until the plane has landed."

Elsa opened her mouth to voice a few opinions about the chess match but stopped mid-thought when she saw the twinkle in Anna's eye. That flirty smirk sent heat shooting directly to her core so fast her heart started pounding practically out of her chest. She cleared her throat in order to collect her train wreck of thoughts. No one had _ever_ looked at her like that, and as such, it did things to her body she had never experienced. Things which were frightening and exhilarating all at once.

"Where did you learn to play like that?" she asked, feigning indifference. Or at least she hoped she sounded indifferent. She was unaccustomed to not winning.

"I don't know if you know this, Professor, but I have an unhealthy obsession with learning. To me, chess is a playground of learning. Learning how to have fun, learning strategy, learning to lose with grace, learning to win with humility. Since I was a kid I asked anyone who would play to teach me new strategies. Then when I backpacked across Europe, I met Vesilin Topolov, a world champion who agreed to tutor me for a couple of months. Well, he agreed because I wouldn't stop bugging him until he did."

Elsa couldn't focus on what Anna was saying. She kept wondering what those lips would feel like against her own. For a beautiful moment, she allowed her mind to drift into the realm of imagination. She imagined Anna's lips tasted of honey and cider. Her neck tasted of autumn and summer. She could practically feel that soft, freckled skin beneath her lips . . .

She grabbed her water bottle and downed it until it was empty. At least it gave her a temporary reprieve from looking at the object of her forbidden desires.

"I didn't know you've been to Europe," she said, setting the empty bottle in the cup holder. "You will have to tell me about your experience on the flight home."

"Is everything okay Professor? You're trembling," Anna said, placing a hand on Elsa's in concern.

Elsa reflexively jerked her hand away then immediately felt guilty about it. She grabbed her glass of Merlot and downed it, hoping she hadn't offended Anna.

"Oh I'm just nervous about tomorrow," she lied. It tasted sour in her mouth. She never lied about anything, and now she had lied twice within a six hour period.

"Professor Winters, I say this with absolute certainty: you don't have anything to worry about. You're fabulous and you're going to be ridiculously fabulous tomorrow. And you will deliver your speech fabulously!"

Elsa blushed. For some reason receiving compliments from Anna always made her squirm, even if Anna was using intentionally lavish language. Despite the growing heat in her body, it occurred to her she very much liked the idea of Anna thinking of her as "fabulous." Right about then the plane touched down, reminding her to stop thinking such things.

* * *

Anna lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. It was not too forthcoming with answers. If every single neuron in her brain could be focused on thinking about Elsa, it would be. Her hotel room was right next to Elsa's. And it was driving her crazy. It would be so easy to just go over there and make up some reason to hang out. She looked at the offending wall separating her from the one thing she wanted, but the one thing she couldn't have. She wanted to respect Elsa's boundaries as her professor. She never wanted to do anything to offend or disrespect her. But why did it all have to be so damn difficult? Was it disrespectful to want someone? Was it wrong to want her?

Letting out a frustrated groan, she fumbled for her phone and decided to text Olaf.

Anna: [_Can't sleep. My body thinks it's 9 o'clock._]

Olaf: [_It is 9 o'clock._]

Anna: [_I'm on NY time, remember?_]

Olaf: [_Oh yeah! That sucks. Have you tried involuntary sleep? Sometimes bashing one's head into a wall causes something that could be considered sleep._]

Anna: [_Yes, because as we all know, unconsciousness and brain damage is a great way to get restful sleep._]

Olaf: [_Well it works for me_.]

Anna: [_That answers so many questions I have about you_.]

Olaf: [_Yeah well. What can u do?_]

Anna: [_Devil?_]

Olaf: [_Yes Ginger?_]

Anna: [_I want her._]

Olaf: [_You could always quit UW. Go to WWU instead._]

Anna: [_Yeah and probably never see her again. That would solve everything!_]

Olaf: [_Yeah, I regretted it as soon as I hit send. Sorry about that._]

Anna: [_No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you about this. It'll pass. Until then I'll just drink a lot_.]

Olaf: [_I like this plan! Just include me in your drinking binges, okay?_]

Anna: [_All right, ya party animal, go back to your game. Text you tomorrow_.]

Olaf: [_It's creepy that you know I'm gaming. But whatevs, you can stalk me, I don't mind. Peace!_]

Smiling and shaking her head, she tossed her phone on the dresser. Then, flipping on the TV, she resigned herself to a very long, sleepless night.

* * *

In the room next door, Elsa was having similar trouble sleeping. Her fingers hovered over her laptop keyboard, trying to think what to type. Normally she had pages and pages of things to tell Doctor Taylor, but her mind was filled with thoughts of Anna. It made it impossible to try and write an email about anything else.

She felt much more comfortable sharing her feelings with him now that he was no longer her professor/colleague, but how much was too much? He'd been her protector, her anchor all through college, but did that mean she could trouble him with her current problems? She couldn't talk to her own parents; they weren't exactly the "spill your emotions" kind of people. They were business people. Everything was a transaction with them.

Disregarding her better judgment for the moment, she began typing.

_My Dear Doctor Taylor,_

_I don't know where else to turn. I need your advice. I know so little about matters of the heart. You are married so perhaps you may shed some light on my difficulty. Do desires for other humans go quickly? I do not know how to handle this situation in which I have found myself. I had always heard that falling in love was wonderful and the best thing that happens to us humans. But all I feel is pain and fear. _

_What can I do? I have tried immersing myself in my work, I have tried avoiding her but she always seems to find me. I have never met a student quite as persistent as she. And now we are alone in New York together. I do not know how much longer I can keep up this façade of indifference. You must help me, Professor. I cannot solve this quandary on my own. Surely there is some reprieve, some way to rid myself of these emotions? I am so unqualified to be a lover; this shouldn't even be happening. But it is happening. The one thing I was so sure would never happen to me is now happening. Please, please help me._

_~Doctor Winters~_

Out of habit more than intention, she pressed send. Her hand nervously fluttered to her mouth. Any chance she had of sleeping disappeared with the email. So instead she settled back and decided to wait for his reply while playing a word game on her phone.

Four hours later, after showering and playing way too much Minecraft, she was scrambling for the "open email" button on her laptop when she heard the incoming mail tone.

_My Dear Doctor Winters,_

_My goodness, what have I missed since my departure? Welcome to the world of being a teacher. First of all, am I to understand there is some reason you cannot act on your feelings? You mentioned she was a student, but is there some other obstacle in your way? I suppose a more important question would be; does she feel the same way? If so, the rest does not matter. Life is simply too short to spend it denying oneself. The more I study just how large and endless this universe is, the more I realize we must live our lives, because it is all we can do. Perhaps, as a fellow professor, I should not be encouraging this kind of behavior, but I also believe if no one is being harmed, then there should be no rule preventing it. Just don't tell Dean Westleton I said so._

_Ah, but perhaps these are just the ramblings of an old romantic. I wish I could give you a cure for these unwanted feelings, but unfortunately, we humans know even less about love than we do the rest of the universe. Suffice it to say, that is staggeringly little. We certainly haven't discovered a means of stomping it out, and frankly, I fear the day we do. This is what it is to be human, dear Doctor Winters, so rejoice in it, do not run from it! As the great Tennessee Williams once said, "Don't look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you'll know you're dead." I hope this has given you something to think about at least, I hope you forgive me if not. _

_Sincerely,_

_Doctor Kai Taylor_

Elsa closed her laptop feeling even more conflicted than before. She turned off the light and settled down in her bed, resigning herself to a restless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

The TED Conference turned out to be everything Anna hoped it would be and more. By the end of the day, she was so loaded up on fascinating information, she felt like she might pass out from all the endorphins in her brain. She was bouncing down the hall after a particularly interesting seminar about biomimicry, just thinking she couldn't be happier, when she ran into Elsa. Her heart skipped several beats, reminding her that she, in fact, could be happier. Her smile widened.

"Oh my goodness, Professor I just saw the most amazing speech about biomimicry and it was so _amazing_! You know what? I think I want to major in biology just so I can get into biomimicry. I saw pictures of a boat shaped like a dolphin. How awesome is that?! Oh my gosh I'm so happy we need to celebrate. We should go dancing! I know of a really good underground club a friend recommended."

An amused smile curved Elsa's lips. "Miss Summers, we have only been here one day, and you already know where the clubs are?"

"Hey, can't waste time since we leave the day after tomorrow. It's a shame they aren't allowing you to stay longer. But I suppose I understand. You're kind of a big deal back at UW, in case you didn't know."

Anna didn't miss light shade of red that colored the other's cheeks. Seeing her blush happened to be yet another thing on her long list of things Elsa did that turned her on. Pretty much everything Elsa did turned her on at this point. She was beginning to seriously question her sanity. She did know this: she was going to do everything in her power to seduce this beautiful woman if it was the last thing she did. Rules be damned.

O=O=O=O=O

Elsa stressed about going to the nightclub, aptly named "Chaos," right up until they arrived. She had no idea how do dress, how to act, how to dance to "techno" music, and she'd never even had hard alcohol. The stiffest drink she'd ever consumed was a glass of Merlot past its expiration date.

Anna had kindly lent her a pair of loose black chain and grommet pants and a black sleeveless zip-up hoodie. She felt completely ridiculous. Anna had even insisted she put on dark eyeliner and black lipstick, and demanded that she wear her hair down for once. Elsa didn't fully understand the point of it all, but when she asked, Anna merely replied something to do with "the full club experience." Despite her getup that made her look the part, she still felt anxious. She'd never been to a nightclub, let alone a nightclub in New York City.

Upon stepping inside, Anna grabbed her hand and dragged her to the bar. From there, all stress melted away. For the first time in her life she was surrounded by people who expected nothing of her, they were all there for the same reason she was—to escape. Or maybe she just relaxed because she had imbibed three drinks called "Long Island ice teas," (which were nothing like any ice tea she'd ever had) and found herself extremely tipsy.

Another first. She'd never been drunk. The most alcohol she'd ever had in one sitting was her usual Saturday night Merlot. She didn't know if it was the music, the environment, the alcohol, or a combination of all three, but her barriers concerning Anna were crumbling by the minute.

And then Anna dragged her onto the dance floor.

It was like a floodgate had been opened within Elsa. Twenty two years of repressed sensuality and social restriction was suddenly set free. Song after song pulsed through her and they danced until they lost track of all time and space. And Anna . . . oh she looked like a gothic goddess the way she moved. Her movement was fluid and carefree, and every time Anna turned her back to Elsa, the redhead pressed up against her in an incredibly erotic grind. Elsa felt as though her entire body was on fire by the time the night was drawing near its end.

"All right, all you just dyin' to make-out, I'll play my one slow song for the night," the DJ's voice filled the speakers. "Don't say I never did anything nice for ya. So let's all grind pelvises together and make-out to some John Legend with the make-out favorite: 'All of Me.'"

A moment later, the sound of John Legend's voice replaced the DJ's on the speakers. If that wasn't the perfect song to describe everything she felt about Anna, she didn't know what was. Every time she was around Anna, she felt as though she were high from all things Anna. And she did want to love all of Anna. And she wanted Anna to love all of her.

Elsa wasn't sure from where her sudden burst of confidence came, (probably the alcohol), but she found herself taking Anna in her arms. Her hands slid over the redhead's slender hips and Anna, in turn, settled her arms on Elsa's shoulders. Their hips swayed as one as though they'd been dancing duet for a lifetime. Nothing had ever felt so natural, so right as that spellbinding moment in time.

She effortlessly lead Anna into a spin then brought her back into her arms. Upon returning they swayed even closer than before. Questions, worries, concerns, all slipped away as the universe around them drifted away. Only those beautiful eyes, those wonderful lips existed, mere centimeters away.

Funny thing, space. The distance between them felt like light years and yet they were so close. Gazing into deep turquoise eyes, she found an intention there that had her body burning. Her eyes traced a languid path to Anna's lips and locked into place, unable to look away. In perfect rhythm with the music their bodies moved closer and closer together, as naturally as waves flowing onto the shore . . .

Then it ended. Another loud techno song blasted in the speakers, bringing reality crashing back with it. Elsa pulled back, pretending to be startled by the music. Mercifully, Anna followed suit. '_Now what?'_ She thought, familiar knots returning to her stomach. _'Pretend it never happened?'_

O=O=O=O=O

The taxi ride back to the hotel was painfully silent. Anna knew they were both just pretending to be tired, and it was taking massive amounts of self-control on her part. Her internal battle had been pushed as close to the edge as it could go. She couldn't bring herself to make the first move, to push something on Elsa that she wasn't ready for, but every fiber of her being ached for Elsa.

After paying the driver, they walked in continued silence to her rooms. As she fumbled around for her door key, Anna could take the silence anymore.

"Thanks for coming out with me. I had a blast," she said with a forced smile.

"Thank you for inviting me. I don't think I've ever before had that much fun."

"See you tomorrow?" Anna asked, sliding her key in the door. It clicked rather loudly.

"Bright and early, with a latte at the ready."

She faked a small laugh. "Goodnight Professor Winters."

"Goodnight Miss Summers."

Anna stepped into her room and softly closed the door. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead and hands to the door, willing Elsa back to her. Seconds ticked away, then turned into a minute. She let out a soft groan of annoyance, then pushed herself from the door, resigning herself to another sleepless night with a longing sigh.

She began the long and tedious process of getting ready for bed, though all she wanted to do was break Elsa's door down and lick her until  
Elsa screamed. Although she usually loved showering, especially in a new environment such as a hotel, tonight she only had the motivation for a very quick shower, an aggravated and fast teeth-brushing, and she quickly dried her hair.

Then came a knock. Her heart leapt into her throat. Before she could stop herself, she was wrenching the door open.

Elsa was through the door before Anna could even protest, not that she had any intention of doing so. A moment later, Anna found herself pushed up against the wall with Elsa's lips pressed forcefully against her own. The door unceremoniously slammed shut.

Anna let out a surprised "Mmph!" but it quickly turned into a soft groan. Her hands found their way alarmingly quickly to Elsa's hips and pulled her closer, desperate for more. Elsa's hand slid up behind her neck, allowing no escape as her fingers intertwined with ginger hair. Anna melted into her, opening her mouth to allow the other's demanding tongue. She couldn't stop another groan from escaping her throat from the onslaught of Elsa's lips. Anna's head fell back as Elsa's lips burned a path down her neck, gasping in surprise when a knee pressed between her thighs. Anna couldn't decide if the pressure eased some of her arousal or worsened her predicament. It was almost frightening how quickly Elsa had managed to ignite a fire within her core.

"Elsa . . ." she gasped, trying in vain to collect her wits. Saying Elsa's first name for the first time tasted sweet on her lips.

Her professor pulled back, and a look of concern filled her ice blue eyes.

"I . . . I'm sorry. I should go." She turned to go, but Anna tightened her grip on the other's hips.

"Don't," Anna whispered, nuzzling into her neck. "Don't go. Stay."

"Anna, I . . . I've never, I don't even . . ."

She placed a finger over Elsa's soft lips, and gently kissed her cheek. "I asked you to stay. Nothing more."

Elsa hesitated for a moment, and Anna could practically hear the wheels spinning in her mind. It was so endearing and adorable that she just had to lean forward and kiss her again. When she pulled back, she could see the apprehension dissolve, and it was replaced with a small smile.

"Okay."

Anna laced her fingers with Elsa's and lead them to her bed. It felt a little strange, taking the lead. In class, Elsa was so in charge and sure of herself that the contrast here in the intimacy of her room was all the more sweet. She opened the blankets for Elsa, then slipped out of her slippers (the hotel so kindly provided) and settled in behind Elsa. She immediately decided she loved being big spoon because she got to smell Elsa's hair for the first time and it was wonderful. Elsa smelled of chamomile tea and peppermint leaves and her hair was still just a little damp from a shower.

There they stayed, wrapped in each other's arms until they drifted off to sleep. In her last moments of consciousness, deeply breathing the wonderful aroma of Elsa, Anna smiled. For the first time in her life, she knew this was where she was meant to be. She'd searched half the world for this moment in time, and she had at last arrived. She knew she need look no further. She'd found where she was meant to be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

When Elsa woke, she slowly became aware of soft pressure on her lips. Confused, she groggily opened her eyes. The pressure ended and she found herself staring into bright turquoise eyes. Lying half over her, Anna welcomed the new day with a vibrant smile. Warm memories of the night before flooded her mind as she gazed into those beautiful eyes. Morning sunlight spilled through the curtains behind Anna, making her look like the sunrise itself.

"Tequila sunrise . . ." she whispered, a smile creeping its way into the corners of her lips.

With a mischievous grin, Anna turned to the nightstand and grabbed one of the chocolates given by the hotel. She unwrapped it then put half of it between her lips so the other half was. She then leaned down to share her treat. Elsa arched into the kiss, her hands working their way around Anna's waist. God, Anna's hips. They were too good, too perfect, too wonderful. It always left Elsa feeling light-headed and helpless when she looked at them or touched them. Anna deepened the kiss as the chocolate passed between them, turning the kiss into something far more erotic. When Anna pulled back, Elsa fell back to the bed, breathless.

"Elsa . . ." Anna whispered, brushing her thumb over Elsa's lips. "You are so beautiful."

She didn't know what came over her. Normally, her cold reserve and self-control was legendary. But all she wanted now was to lose all control with Anna. Rolling Anna beneath her, she kissed her again, this time with an intention she'd felt last night. A burning need, a yearning. Everything about Anna made her _want_. She felt Anna's fingertips dig into her back, transforming the kiss into something more. An intimacy Elsa had never imagined, an explosion of warmth and happiness. '_Is this love?'_

She pulled back, and her heart felt like it would pound out of her chest when she saw the sight beneath her. Anna was so beautiful it made her ache. Every centimeter of her, from her strawberry red hair to her adorable freckles sprinkled over her soft, fair skin, all the way down to those adorable feet that she insisted on putting in skater shoes. Never had she felt so unprepared for anything in her life. Any time she was faced with an unknown variable in physics or in life, she would simply research the subject matter relentlessly until she understood it. But how could she research something without equations, without rules, without structure? And worse still, what if Anna didn't feel the same way?

"I think can see the wheels in your mind turning," Anna said with an amused smile. "You should be careful about that. Your eyes tell a very vivid tale."

Elsa felt herself blush scarlet. She seemed to do a lot of that around Anna. "Is it that obvious?" she asked sheepishly.

"Yes, but it's adorable," Anna replied. She lifted her head off the pillow and kissed Elsa's cheek, then she glanced over at the clock. "Say, another biomimicry discussion starts in an hour. Would you like to go with me?"

Truth be told, Elsa would rather have stayed in Anna's arms all day long, but she also loved seeing how excited Anna got about the TED talks. Lightly running her fingers over Anna's cheek, she leaned down and kissed her lips her again. It lingered on, and Elsa drank in the taste and aroma of all things Anna. She tasted of honey an chocolate and summer and all things wonderful in the world, Elsa decided. Of all the things that made her happy to date - learning about the universe on an atomic scale, debating with colleagues, stomping chess players, discovering some new thing in the quantum world - none of it compared to holding Anna Summers in her arms and kissing her.

"I'd love to," she replied after collecting her derailed thoughts.

"Good, because if you'd have said no, I'd have dragged you along anyway."

* * *

The rest of the New York trip was, to say the least, too short in Anna's humble opinion. The combination of TED and Elsa . . . heaven on Earth. The two things in the world she loved most—learning and Elsa.

Anna's heart skipped a beat. Had she just thought the word love? She glanced at Elsa through the corner of her eye. She was typing away at something or another on her ever-present laptop. It couldn't be love, could it? Did love happen this fast? She'd certainly had flings here and there in Europe, but had she ever had one this intense? One that made her crazy with desire, one that made her want to spend every waking moment with her? One that made her want to endlessly kiss those lips . . . one that made her want to dedicate every love song ever written to her . . .?

From force of habit grabbed her phone.

Anna: [_Devil. I did something bad._]

Olaf: [_Bad is good in my opinion._]

Anna: [_Lol Of course it is. Long story short: I kissed Elsa. Well, she kissed me. Okay, we've both kissed each other at this point. A lot._]

Olaf: [_Finally! You've only been talking about her since . . . hell, since you first met her_.]

Anna: [_Have I? And shouldn't you be a bit more, I don't know, surprised?_]

Olaf: [_No. You're hot. I knew it was only a matter of time before she couldn't resist your devious charms_.]

Anna: [_You're so helpful, as usual. *SARCASM DRIPPING FROM VOICE*_]

Olaf: [_What? It's true. Listen, don't worry about it. It'll all work out_.]

Anna: [_The last time you said that, you lit yourself on fire. I seem to recall you ended up in the hospital with no eyebrows_.]

Olaf: [_Well I survived, didn't I? Besides, chicks dig scars_.]

Anna: [_Okay, you're being excruciatingly unhelpful so I'm going to play some more chess with Elsa_.]

Olaf: [_Is that code for something dirty?_]

Anna: [_I'm not even ordaining that worthy of a reply_.]

Olaf: [_HA! I knew it! That's hot . ._ .]

Anna: [_Perv! Okay, really going this time_.]

She set her phone aside and grabbed her travel chess set.

"Up for round two?"

* * *

Three large tires touched down on the runway with an unceremonious _thud_. Elsa sat once again staring in disbelief at the chessboard. Another tie. And yet again Anna was giving her that same cheeky smile. She smiled despite herself. Grabbing the front of Anna's TED T-shirt, Elsa pulled her in and planted a forceful kiss on her lips. Anna seemed to have that effect on her. The "I want to kiss you for no reason at all" effect.

As if the entire universe decided to conspire against her at that very moment, she suddenly remembered they were back in Seattle. Which meant people knew her. Which meant she had certain expectations on how to act.

She pulled away and busied herself with their luggage in the compartment overhead. She became uncomfortably aware in that moment that it was all too much. Could she carry on an ambiguous "affair" like this? What if someone asked her if she was seeing someone? Would she be able to lie? And what would the dean do if he found out . . .?

Anna stood just as Elsa turned back, and their faces ended centimeters apart. Her heart leapt up into her throat. There was no way could stay away from Anna; that much was apparent.

She, yet again, found herself in desperate need of advice. She hadn't really thought about it in New York; there had been no need. They were anonymous in New York, just another couple of young lovers among millions. But here, she was Doctor Elsa Winters.

They walked through SeaTac's sizable parking lot in silence until they reached Elsa's bright blue Mini Cooper. But as soon as they closed their doors, Anna turned to Elsa.

"Hey," she said, softly running her fingers up Elsa's arm. A shiver followed Anna's fingertips all the way up to Elsa's neck. "You don't need to worry, we're not doing anything wrong. We're both adults, you know."

She worried her lower lip. "It's . . . not that. I'm just . . . relationship, I mean, not to say . . . Anna," she stopped herself stammering. "You need to know something about me. I have devoted my entire life to astrophysics. There has been little room for anything else. I was graduating high school when most kids were getting sex education. So needless to say I have very little exposure to the traditional progression of courtship, dating, romance—"

She would have rambled further, but Anna suddenly silenced her with a bruising kiss. Elsa was glad she was sitting down otherwise her knees may have buckled. When Anna released her, she was once again breathless and flustered and probably blushing scarlet.

"I don't mind," Anna said with a soft grin. "You'd be surprised at how little it matters. Humans have been figuring this stuff out without textbooks for thousands of years. And I should know, I've taken all kinds of anthropology classes."

Elsa giggled. "I believe it."

"Well _Professor_," Anna said with a suggestive smile. "If we are to figure it out without a textbook, then I'll suggest the next move. Let me make you dinner Friday night."

"You cook as well?" Elsa laughed. "Is there anything you can't do?"

"Of course! I backpacked across Europe, didn't I mention that already? I must have bribed my way into at least a dozen culinary schools and into the kitchens of my favorite restaurants."

Elsa once again found herself grinning from ear to ear. Anna seemed to have that effect on her. "Very well, I accept. Dinner it is."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Elsa's lips had once again found themselves in the wonderful and inexplicable position of being locked with Anna's. When Elsa had placed her elbows on her desk to rest her chin in her hands for a moment, Anna had leaned across her desk and now here they were lip locked. A soft groan escaped Elsa's throat, quite without her permission. That seemed to be a common occurrence with her.

"Anna . . ." she murmured around the kiss, "I have-" -kiss- "-class in-" -nibble- "-ten minutes." Lick.

"Mmm I'd rather kiss you." Anna grinned around the kiss, then ran her tongue over Elsa's lower lip. "You're just so very delicious."

Elsa felt herself blush for at least the hundredth time since the trip to New York three weeks ago. And in those three weeks, Anna had done everything in her power to make Elsa fall in love with her, or so it felt. She was always so very sweet, so romantic, so gentle and kind. It made Elsa's heart ache with heat and a burning affection.

"So what are you doing after work, beautiful?" Anna asked, moving her lips to ghost over Elsa's cheek and then down to her neck.

Elsa's eyes fluttered shut as she basked in the sensation. "I d-didn't have a-anything planned, did you?"

"I was thinking," Anna purred, lacing their fingers and kissing the back of Elsa's hand, "that we could maybe hang out in my apartment tonight? Bond a little more over 'Doctor Who?'"

Elsa giggled shyly. Ever since Anna introduced her to that rather scientifically impossible show, despite the ludicrous physics behind the TV show, she found it to be incredibly enjoyable.

"Maybe just a couple episodes," she replied, finding Anna's lips again with her own.

"I'll miss you until then," Anna whispered. She planted one last sweet kiss on Elsa's lips then grabbed her bag and headed for the door. Just before flitting out the door, she paused and blew Elsa one last kiss before disappearing down the hall, leaving a completely twitterpated Elsa.

* * *

Several hours later, Elsa found herself staring her laptop keyboard, yet again, wondering what in the world to type. She was back in her office trying and failing to eat lunch. She couldn't seem to find her appetite. She had decided to look up the university's rules on teacher/student relationships and discovered that the rules prohibiting it had been abolished thirteen years ago, but that Dean Westleton had fought the overturn to the bitter end. Part of her understood his reluctance toward the new rules, but at the same time, it meant that he had lied to her, and he had also attempted to bully her with that lie.

Regardless, she didn't want to get on his bad side, even if he had lied. The politics in the academic world frequently drove professors to hate their jobs, and UW was no exception. And what had Elsa been doing that very morning? She'd been in her office with Anna, kissing her half the morning. At the time it had been wonderful, but now all she could focus on were the knots in her stomach. She hated the whole situation. One of the few things that made working with the dean bearable is that she usually flew under his radar because of her spotless history with the university. Not even so much as a parking infraction or a grade lower than 100% when she was a student. But now she was a professor with tenure, and with that came a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the faculty. And what if she got caught while going out to coffee or taking Anna out on dates and he saw them in a moment of tenderness or intimacy? Then what?

She flexed her fingers over her keyboard and began typing.

_My Dear Doctor Taylor,_

_Oh my dear friend, I think I have made a terrible mistake. While in New York I think I may have fallen in love with my student. This is so unlike me, I have never had this problem before. I have never felt this way about another human being. I of course care about my friends and family, but this is something more. How can I possibly go on like this? This is so far outside my comfort zone, so outside my limitations. I know this: I cannot live a lie. I have never been able to do so. I did not grow up learning to play games, and this feels like a ridiculous adult version of hide-and-seek. _

_I grew up knowing exactly what was expected of me and I have always been comfortable with that. Until now. I don't want to be comfortable anymore. I don't want to be inside this box that has been constructed for me by people who don't even know me. But I cannot quit working here, I do love UW, and I want to use my mind for the future of astrophysics. How can I possibly have both? I know Doctor Westleton lied to me when he said it was against the rules, which would also explain why you didn't discourage me, but I also cannot work in a hostile workplace. I exist so much in the theoretical universe I barely have the cognitive function to deal with office hostilities or politics. I cannot function in a hostile environment, but I also do not believe I could give up Anna. What can I do?_

_Sincerely,_

_Doctor Elsa Winters  
_

She stood and gathered her things for her next class. Just as she made it out the door, she just about ran over the rather vertically challenged Doctor Westleton.

"Doctor Westleton! Pardon me," she stammered.

"It is quite all right, Doctor Winters," he said in a tone so abrupt it bordered on rude.

She'd never felt very comfortable with the man. She'd always felt his expectations of her were too high, like somehow she was an insult to him because she was smarter than he was as well as much, much younger. She tightened her grip on her laptop.

"How may I help you?" she asked.

"I will not waste your time, Doctor Winters, I am here to issue a warning."

She blinked.

"I've noticed you have been spending an unusually large amount of time with your student, Miss Summers," he continued. "Whereas I am not making a formal accusation, I must warn you, your actions could lead to certain unpleasant consequences."

Approximately five seconds passed in silence. Her heart felt as though it would pound out of her chest. '_Say something!'_ She mentally slapped herself.

"Doctor, with all due respect," she said, forcing her voice to sound calm, "I have never done anything to deserve such an accusation. I have devoted my life to this university; you have no right to accuse or threaten me. And even if there were something going on between Miss Summers and I, it is not against the university's rules to do so."

"I think you'll find rules have very little to do with how behavior is conducted. As such, I would hate to think of anything happening to Miss Summer's bright future in academics."

Elsa heart felt like it was about to explode out of her throat. She swallowed hard. "Miss Summers is the brightest student to come to this university since-"

"You?" Doctor Westleton interrupted. His lips twitched in a scowl. "On that we can agree. The point I am making, Doctor Winters, is that you are a distraction. She has a bright future ahead of her so long as her personal affairs are in order. You would be wise to stop any dalliances from stopping now, before they start for the sake of her future. You could unknowingly cause her to fail."

"Are you threatening me?" Elsa demanded, feeling a moment of boldness.

"Not at all. I simply do not want a possible fling to cause Miss Summers to leave this university. We need students like her. Do not be the cause of her leaving."

Elsa felt a knot forming in her throat. Her anger was replaced by fear. Fear that he was right. And the worst part was, she knew he _was_ right. If things didn't work out between her and Anna, there was a good chance Anna would want to leave UW. Anna could go anywhere she wanted, and the thought of Anna leaving made Elsa want to cry. She cleared her throat. "Then let me reassure you, Doctor, that nothing is going on between Miss Summers and I. She is my student and a helpful aid. Nothing more."

"Then you will have no problem with me reassigning her as another professor's assistant?" he asked, his voice like stone.

"You are the dean. I will accept your decision," she replied flatly. She straightened her shoulders and adjusted her glasses, hoping to maintain at least the illusion of pride.

"I am glad to hear you say that, Doctor Winters. You understand of course." His voice oozed so much condescension, she found herself wishing she could slap it right out of him.

"Of course," she replied with quite possibly the most insincere smile she'd given anyone ever.

Then he stalked away, leaving Elsa to feel like all the molecules in her stomach were suddenly victim of a black hole.

* * *

Something was wrong. After Anna's General Physics class she usually walked Elsa back to her office to help with papers and such, but as soon as the class ended, Elsa vanished. Being the persistent sort that she was, Anna headed straight to Elsa's office. When she arrived, Elsa was already seated at her desk, busying herself with paperwork as usual.

"Hey gorgeous," Anna flopped down on the chair across the desk. "You didn't have to run off like that. I think it's legal to walk down the hall together."

"Miss Summers," Elsa said abruptly, looking over her glasses. "I regret to inform you, you have been assigned to another professor. You begin today with Professor Hornberg."

Anna's train of thought derailed right about then, causing a massive failure of communication between her brain and her mouth.

"What?"

"The dean feels that we may have certain levels of ambiguity developing that could ultimately cause you to continue your academic future elsewhere. Therefore, you have been reassigned. Doctor Hornberg is a very respectable professor. I am sure you will do well under his tutelage."

"Elsa—" Anna began, but was cut off.

"Miss Summers, I insist that you refer to me as either 'Professor' or 'Doctor Winters.' Under the circumstances, I think it only appropriate."

Deciding this little charade had gone on quite long enough, Anna rose and closed the door. Then she turned to face her professor.

"Okay, do you want to tell me what's really going on?"

Elsa took a deep breath and stubbornly squared her shoulders. "Anna . . . New York was a mistake. I temporarily chose my emotions over my career and your academic future. A mistake I will not be repeating. I have devoted too much of my life to where I am today. And you have too much to lose and too much to offer this university."

"Was I asking you to choose between me and your career?" Anna challenged. "And when did I decide to go to another university? I had thousands of universities to choose from, but I chose this one, Elsa."

Elsa faltered. "Anna . . . I just can't. The dean already suspects something, and I've never been a liar. I don't keep secrets, I don't _have_ secrets. My life is made up of facts, and lies are not facts."

"I know what it is you're asking of me. You're asking me to respect your decision. And believe me, 'Professor,' I want to respect you in all things. But you have just asked the impossible of me. Don't you dare try to pretend you don't feel the same way."

She regretted it right after saying it. She could see the emotion on Elsa's face, the struggle. Kneeling down beside her chair, she tenderly placed her hand on Elsa's cheek.

"Is this what you want?" she asked softly.

"I want _you_," Elsa whispered, covering Anna's hand with her own. For a moment she almost thought Elsa might give in as she leaned into Anna's touch.

For a moment. "But I cannot have you."

Anna felt as though the walls of reality had suddenly crashed down around her. It was something akin to being kicked in the stomach by a full grown angry stallion. She pulled her hand away and rose shakily to her feet.

"I want you to know," Anna said upon finding her voice, "that you're wrong. And the only way I know how to respect something as insane as this, is to be there when you figure it out. Because I will be, Elsa."

Then she quietly left. No drama, no theatrics. As the door closed, she heard Elsa begin to cry, ever so softly. Hardly able to breathe, to see, she forced herself to continue walking, calling upon strength she didn't know she had. Doing the only thing she could think of, she grabbed her phone and called Olaf.

"What's up?" she heard his voice on the line.

"Olaf? I'm skipping the rest of my classes today. Let's go get plastered," she said all at once.

"Skip . . . classes?" his voice faltered. "Shit babe, what happened?"

"Fucking life happened. I just want to get drunk, okay?"

"I'll call a taxi."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Anna stared at the six empty shot glasses in front of her, then over at Olaf.

"Surrender -hic- yet?" she asked, trying desperately to battle off total inebriation.

"Don't look at me, I could go all night," he replied with a mischievous grin.

She glanced back down at the shot locals called a "Washington Apple." They were quite good, but after downing six in consecutive order, she was feeling a little less good about her odds beating Olaf. She'd vastly underestimated Olaf's ability to hold his alcohol.

"So you want to tell me what's going on now?" Olaf asked, then tossed back another shot.

Anna groaned and slumped against the bar. "I'd rather drink myself into unconsciousness if it's all the same to you."

"Is it about Elsa? Did she break your heart? Because if she did, I will kick her ass."

"She was trying to look out for my academic future and the university's interests. I get it. Fucking stupid as it is, I get why she did it. Olaf, why the hell did I have to fall for someone so emotionally retarded?"

"Beats me. I'm gonna hit the loo. Drink some water while I'm gone. Then we can go home and watch a lesbian chick flick, okay?"

"Oh why bother? They all end in suicide anyway."

"How about 'D.E.B.S.'?"

Anna rolled her eyes but couldn't help but grin. Despite how excessively cheesy the film was, it never failed to cheer her up. "Okay fine. But only if we can watch it with screwdrivers."

"You know it. I got the good vodka back at my dorm." He reassuringly patted her back before heading off to the bathroom.

She turned back to the bar and tossed back the last shot before digging in her purse to tip the bar tender. Just as her hand reached the tip jar, it ran into the soft hand of someone else. Her eyes tracked up a well-toned arm to the face of a young college student, far too pretty for his own good. His face was quite symmetrical, he had long dark eyelashes that made his eyes look almost freakishly pretty.

"Pardon me," he said politely, then dropped in a twenty dollar bill.

_'Rich parents. Totally gay,' _she thought with an amused grin.

"Don't we have class together?" he asked, widening his ridiculously pretty smile.

She looked him up and down and pondered for a moment. She found his white tank-top and rippling pectorals slightly distracting.

"Not sure. I'm Anna," she replied then gave him a toothy smile.

"Hans," he said, scooting his stool closer to hers. "I must say, Anna, you have the loveliest red hair I do believe I've ever laid eyes on."

"I bet you say that to all the girls."

He chuckled. "Only the pretty redheads."

"Hey you're right. We do have a class together. A business class. Are you majoring in business, Hans?"

"I am, good guess. I'm in line to run my father's company. Loads of money in it, but it's not very exciting. Ah well, what can you do?"

"What company?"

"It's a company that subcontracts with Samsung and Motorola. You know those little chips in phones called 'sim cards?' Yeah my dad's company makes those. Boring, right?"

Anna giggled. "Maybe a little. But you're right, that would make a lot of money. That must also be how you get the girls. Tell them you're about to be a gazillionair. Well it worked." She grabbed his face and planted a rather violent kiss on his lips.

About a second later, she horribly regretted it. All she could suddenly think about was Elsa's lips and how much she wanted to be kissing her and not some complete stranger in a bar. She immediately pushed him back, and she could feel her face burn.

"I'm sorry, Hans. I shouldn't have done that. I . . . I have to go."

She stood to do just that, but he placed a hand on hers before she could. "Just when things were going so well? Come on. Let me buy you a drink."

"I've already had too much. Besides, I . . . I'm waiting for someone."

"And where are they now?" he persisted. "It's just you and me. Come on, let's not spoil a good thing."

She slid her hand out from under his and stood. "I'm sorry, Hans. I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm . . ." she hesitated and worried her lower lip. "I'm in love with someone else."

"So? I'm offering a night of fun. What's love got to do with anything? Come on, it will be fun."

Anna rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to verbally shoot him down when Olaf suddenly appeared. Her whole body sighed in relief.

"Ready to go, babe?" he asked with a winning smile. Then he glanced at Hans. "Unless you wanted to take him home. In which case, you're on your own. I'm not going to support you having a one night stand that you will regret for the rest of your life and hate yourself for it because it's not him you want and we both know it."

Anna scowled. "I am most certainly not going to take him home. Let's go."

* * *

The next few weeks were hell on Earth for Elsa. Not only was Doctor Taylor not replying to her emails for some unknown reason, but Anna began skipping General Physics. Elsa had a feeling Doctor Taylor was simply too busy, but she knew Anna well enough to know she'd rather die than miss class. That alone was causing near-debilitating stress within Elsa's body. But more than that, it was her only opportunity to see Anna, to be close to her. And now even that had been taken away. The only upside of it all seemed to be that Elsa was more focused on her work than she had ever been. She even tracked down a couple of her struggling students and helped them get their grades up. Her days were filled from beginning to end with work, and yet she felt so . . . _empty_.

She felt starved. Like she'd been wandering the desert for weeks on end with no water, no nothing. Friday nights such as these were the worst. She wanted to be holding Anna, spending every weekend in her arms.

She shook herself out of her thoughts and focused back on the three chalkboards in front of her. It was covered in a mess of equations, as usual. She'd been especially determined of late to disprove the Hawking Formula since it seemed to be the only thing capable of temporarily distracting her. She'd gone over it so many times she could barely make out her own handwriting anymore, she'd added so many notes and changed so many numbers. The main challenge standing in her way, of course, was that almost everything she had to work with in astrophysics and particle physics was theoretical. Black holes hadn't even been discovered or studied yet outside equations on a chalkboard.

She looked around her apartment, then down at herself. She was well put together, as usual. She had on a pair of black slacks and a "No G.U.T. No Glory" T-shirt (G.U.T. being the General Unified Theory). Her platinum hair was neatly pinned up and her makeup still in order, even at this hour.

She then realized she was wearing a pair of pink and black skater shoes she'd bought for herself and Anna while in New York. Shoes she bought because Anna loved them.

Something insider her snapped. She hurled the chalk across the room, grabbed the edge of the chalkboard, and violently knocked to the ground. Anguish the likes of which she'd never known boiled up inside of her and spilled from her lips in the form of a horrible, gut-wrenching cry. She grabbed the nearest thing to her—a dining chair—and launched it across her living room. Then she fell to her knees and cried. She cried as she'd never cried in her life. She cried until her eyes burned and her throat was raw. Her entire being silently screamed out for Anna, willing her to hear, willing her into her arms.

When next she became aware of what was happening, she realized she was walking. She walked through the empty halls of the apartment complex, silenced by the late hour. She stepped out into the omnipresent rain but hardly took notice. Nothing in the world mattered anymore, not the rain, not the cold, not physics, not tenure, not UW. Only one thing.

_'Anna. Oh god Anna what have I done?'_

For the first time in her life, she didn't keep track of the time spent walking. All she knew was, it felt like she'd been walking for an eternity, and even longer since she'd seen Anna, since she'd been able to hold her, kiss her, _love_ her.

When she thought she could take no more, when she could wait no more, when she could _want_ no more, it appeared. The apartment door. Suddenly she couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. She stood so close to the threshold of everything she wanted, and yet she couldn't move.

"Anna . . ." she whispered, shivering and half out of her mind. "Hear me. Please . . ."

Her heart pounded in her chest and tears bled into the rain on her face. She couldn't even bring herself to knock. And the worst part was, she knew her reasons weren't good enough _not _to knock. Part of her feared that someone was in there with Anna. Another part feared Anna would promptly slam the door in her face if she saw Elsa. And another part still feared Anna _would_ answer. What then?

The door seemed to be making a noise of some kind. Like it was opening. Odd. Elsa was quite sure she hadn't knocked.

And then she was there. Anna stood in the doorway, tears streaming down her face. She looked up and a look of startled surprise crossed her face when she noticed Elsa standing there.

"Anna . . ." Elsa whispered Anna's name on a soft exhale, as if it were the first breath of oxygen she'd had in months. "Oh god, Anna. . ."

Then Anna was in her arms, and her lips were burning against her own. Elsa nearly went weak at the knees. If this was what a heroine addict felt like after getting a shot after weeks of withdrawal, suddenly she was much more sympathetic to their plight. They stumbled into Anna's apartment, and Elsa somehow remembered to kick the door shut behind her.

Elsa's arms made their way around Anna's waist, desperate to feel Anna close to her again, and she returned the kiss with every fiber of her being. Deepening the kiss, Elsa trapped Anna against the wall, and pressed herself up against the redhead. Anna melted into her, rewarding her with a soft groan from the intimate contact. When Elsa moved her hands beneath Anna's t-shirt to gently stroke her bare waist and stomach, the groan turned into a whimper that made Elsa's head spin with love and lust and everything in between. Anna's buttery smooth skin beneath her fingers was heaven.

Elsa's fingers closed around the hem of the t-shirt and tugged urgently at it. She felt as though she'd go out of her mind if she couldn't feel Anna's bare skin against her own in that moment. Anna obediently lifted her arms and allowed Elsa to pull it off and drop it on the floor. Anna soon followed suit, pausing when Elsa's shirt was off to gaze hungrily over new-found skin. The naked desire in Anna's eyes made Elsa's heart soar, and it ignited a fire in her core. She'd never felt so very _wanted_ in her entire life as she did in that moment.

Their lips collided in another fiery kiss that had them both softly groaning around each other's lips. Elsa slithered her hands up Anna's back, pausing to take a hold of the offending bra strap that impeded her progress and unhooked it. A moment later she felt her own falling off her shoulders as Anna's eager hands pulled it off.

Elsa groaned into the kiss when Anna's soft breasts pressed against her own. She hadn't thought it possible for anything to be so soft or so wonderful until that moment. With their lips still locked in a heated kiss, she pulled Anna from the wall and they began stumbling toward the bedroom. Their hands both wandered down to the other's pants and fumbled with buttons and zippers before kicking them off. When they at last reached the edge of the bed, Elsa once again paused to enjoy the moment.

She was about to take off Anna Summers' underwear.

She shuddered in sheer delight as her fingers closed around the thin fabric and slowly pulled them down. Anna obligingly stepped out of them then eagerly followed suit with Elsa's underwear. They both leaned back to admire the newly exposed skin before their lips came colliding back together. When their naked bodies pressed against one another's, Elsa whimpered again. Her head was swimming in all things Anna, her skin, her scent, her lips, her eyes, every freckle, every beautiful strand of red hair, everything.

Anna pulled away and slid up the bed, beckoning Elsa with lust-darkened eyes. Elsa slowly ran her hands up Anna's sides as she climbed up the bed on top of her, lowering her head to run her tongue over a freckled breast. Anna arched into her lips with a groan, causing another wave of heat to erupt directly in Elsa's core.

"Anna . . ." she breathed around Anna's wonderful skin. "Oh Anna . . ."

She wanted to further explore Anna's body with her lips and tongue, but that could wait. Right now all she could think about was claiming Anna as her own. She kissed her way back up to Anna's lips, then locked them as her hand began its meaningful decent. She shivered when Anna spread her legs, welcoming Elsa's hesitant touch.

When her hand reached its destination, Elsa nearly cried out in sheer pleasure to be touching Anna in such a way, were it not the kiss currently muffling her mouth. It felt _so _beautiful to be touching her new lover in such an intimate, beautiful place. She softly groaned when Anna's curious touch reached between Elsa's legs as well.

Elsa fingers slid down and she gasped when she felt the wetness pooled there.

"God you're so wet for me," Anna whispered, mirroring Elsa's thought. She smiled softly into the kiss.

Tongues writhed as one, their kisses passionate and breathless. Elsa lost herself in the sensations, the movement, the taste, the feel of Anna pressed so closely against her, inside her. She was losing control and had no desire to gain it back. Emotion took hold of her, filling her to the core of her being. They moved together as naturally as waves swelling on the ocean shore.

Breath became ragged. Wave after wave of pleasure pulsed through Elsa, threatening to send her flying into the unknown. Every time Anna's fingertips dug into her back, it drove Elsa closer and closer to ecstasy. Anna tore away from their kiss, and her head fell back with a cry of pleasure.

"Elsa . . ." Anna groaned, writhing beneath her. "Oh god Elsa I c-can't . . . I'm going t-to . . ."

Hearing her name spoken with such passion sent Elsa spiraling into pleasure she'd never felt before. Anna arched into her, causing Elsa entire body to convulse as she came into Anna's hand.

"God Elsa . . .!"

Elsa nearly went out of her mind when Anna's body reciprocated, the evidence of Anna's pleasure spilling into Elsa's eagerly awaiting hand. Feeling Anna clench around her fingers made her heart soar and her head spin until she felt light-headed. Was this what heaven felt like?

"Anna . . ." she gasped into her neck. "Oh Anna. _My_ Anna . . ."

They rode the wave of finality together until they collapsed as one onto dampened sheets, tangled in each other's arms. When she gathered the strength to move again, Elsa lifted her head to look into those endlessly beautiful turquoise eyes.

"I love you, Tequila Summers," she whispered with a small smile.

Anna reached up and lightly kissed her. "And I love you, Doctor Winters."

Smiling, Elsa teased Anna's kiss-darkened lips with her own. She eventually became aware "One More Day" by Diamond Rio was playing on Anna's laptop. It had apparently been on repeat the whole time. Then she remembered her arrival.

"Why were you crying?" she asked, her brow furrowing in worry.

"Don't you know?" Anna asked softly.

Elsa captured her lips in another kiss, pouring herself, her love, her heart into Anna.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, tightening her arms around Anna. "I'm _so_ sorry, Anna I-"

Anna gently placed a finger on Elsa's lips. "You don't have to be sorry. You're here now, Elsa. That's all that matters to me. Speaking of, did you walk here? You're soaking wet; you must be freezing."

Elsa glanced down. She'd completely forgotten. "I think it's safe to say you warmed me up."

Anna grinned. "Well I wouldn't say no to a shower." She waggled her eyebrows and Elsa couldn't help but giggle.

"Well when you put it that way, how can I resist your charms, Miss Summers?"

Gently pushing Elsa to her feet, Anna guided her to the shower. After a moment of fumbling with the temperature, their lips met again and Elsa pulled Anna in. Fingers laced together as they stood beneath the cleansing water, reveling in each other's touch.

Elsa lost track of time, space . . . reason. She didn't know how long they spent in the shower, running bodywash over each other as an excuse to touch. She didn't know how long they kissed, how long they held each other, nor how long they made love when they found their way to the bed again. For the first time in her life, time, numbers, equations, everything lost its meaning, for she realized it was all meaningless without Anna. And for the first time, she like she was where she was _meant_ to be.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Anna woke sometime Saturday afternoon to find herself completely entangled in Elsa's arms. Anna nuzzled into her neck, deeply inhaling the wonderful aroma of Elsa Winters. Elsa let out a muffled moan and tilted her chin, allowing Anna easier access to her neck. With a playful grin, Anna began lightly sprinkling the offered neck with kisses. Her grin turned into a smirk when she noticed there were darkened marks from the night before.

"It's too early for existence," Elsa mumbled.

Anna giggled. "It's one o'clock. In the afternoon."

"Mmm . . . coffeeee . . ." Elsa rolled on top of her.

Laughing and giggling like a schoolgirl, she wrapped her arms and legs around Elsa and bit her neck playfully. Elsa squeaked in mock-dismay, then settled comfortably over the top of her. Kissing her ever so softly on the cheek, Elsa pulled back to look into Anna's eyes. Anna felt as though those shimmering pools were looking directly into her soul, and it sent shivers up and down her spine. Anna's breath caught in her throat when Elsa's hand settled over one of her breasts. Anna involuntarily arched into the touch with a soft groan.

"God, you're beautiful," Elsa whispered.

Anna felt as though her heart would overflow with happiness in that moment as she gazed into ice blue eyes. How was it possible to love someone this much so fast? For the first time in her life she felt afraid of her feelings; something she'd never experienced. Normally, she loved to feel any emotion, no matter what it was. She tended to dive in headfirst into her emotions and ride the ensuing roller coaster with an abandon of enthusiasm.

But this was different. This had the potential to really hurt them both if she wasn't careful.

"Hey," Elsa whispered, a look of concern crossing her face. She tenderly kissed Anna's cheek. "I'm here, Anna. I'm right here."

"I'm sorry, it's just . . . No one's ever said that to me like _that_ before. When did you get so good with the ladies?" she grinned.

"Apparently when I met you," Elsa leaned down and teased her neck with soft lips.

All of a sudden she pulled away with a look of insatiable excitement on her face.

"Entropy!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Anna asked, slightly startled.

"This whole time I've been focusing on the gravity field of a black hole and not the entropy!"

"Entropy? You mean the thermodynamic unit of measurement? Energy divided by temperature?" Anna inquired, sitting up as Elsa sprung from the bed in a fit of excitement.

"Do you have a chalkboard? Or, or paper? Something?"

Laughing happily, she guided Elsa to her living room. She pulled out some poster-board she kept around for various art projects and some Sharpies.

"Will this do?" she asked, kissing Elsa's cheek.

"Perfect!" she replied, planting a fervent kiss on Anna's lips. "Can you help me? Are you familiar with the entropy balance equation?"

"Sure! I've sneaked into my fair share of your advanced physics classes."

Elsa paused to give her a look of bemusement before handing her a Sharpie. "Good. Start writing. I'm going to need your help."

* * *

Four hours later and massive amounts of ink all over the place, Elsa and Anna sat sprawled on the couch, entangled in each other's arms. They'd been going at equations and astrophysics while snacking on and off for about three and a half hours before they simultaneously had the idea to make love on the couch. Elsa glanced over at Anna's computer.

"Say, could I check my email?"

Anna lazily looked over at her computer. "Ce qui est á moi est á toi." Elsa gave her a blank look. Anna giggled. "What is mine is yours."

"Right. You speak a million languages. How could I forget?" Elsa reprimanded herself with a shake of her head.

"A million and one if you count English."

Smiling in awe, she peeled herself out of Anna's arms and stumbled to the computer. Pulling up the internet browser, she logged into her email account. Her heart sped up significantly when she saw Doctor Taylor had finally emailed her. She opened the email.

_My Dear Miss Winters,_

_Ah, my young friend, I am terribly sorry I have not been able to contact you sooner! I don't want to give anything away because there will be a large press release about this soon enough, but we have just made the discovery of a lifetime! With all the massive influx of new information the Large Hadron Collider has been giving us, I have hardly had time to eat, sleep, or even breathe! Oh my dear friend I wish I could hug you right now! Oh I'll just say it. You should be the first to know anyway with that brilliant mind of yours, and you can appreciate the magnitude. _

_While working on trying to discover the properties of the Big Bang Theory, we may have stumbled upon evidence that it couldn't have happened! I won't get into all the mathematics and such via email, but the very basic explanation—the Big Bang Theory could not have happened on its own. Not if the Universe had eternity to do it. Ah I love it when we expect one result and get something completely different! It humbles us old intellectuals who think we know it all. Most of my colleagues are in total denial, but facts don't lie. I for one was expecting to find evidence supporting the Big Bang, but I am extremely glad we found evidence to the contrary! Do you even know the debate across the world this is going to spark? Of course you do, you will more than likely be in the thick of it! I can't wait! _

_Okay, onto the subject concerning you. First of all, allow me to remind you, my dear Elsa, that you are human. It is your right as a sentient being to be free to love whom you love so long as it is not harming another being. You are both of age, you are both consenting adults, and your personal life need not have anything to do with your professional life. Love, it seems, in this world is fleeting, so when it happens you must not shy away. I would be careful of our old friend Doctor Westleton, though. He is not as accepting on such matters. He is a stubborn, motionless pillar in an ever-changing world. I fear one day he will snap from the pressure of it all; as do most things that stagnate. As I have said before, in this tiny, precious spark of life that we have on this fragile planet of ours, we must treasure that which makes us happy. So if this Anna is your source for happiness, then hold onto it! And you know what else? I would personally thank her if I could, for bringing a smile to that face of yours. In all my years mentoring and working with you, too rarely have I seen your face light up with a smile._

_Oh how I wish I could write more, but alas my phone is exploding with texts as if there were no tomorrow. We have so much work ahead of us! I haven't been this excited something since . . . well since the day I married my wife! I will start forwarding you some of the information regarding the LHC, I'd like a fresh perspective on all this new information. That's the other frustrating aspect of working with us old intellectuals. We tend to see things from a limited perspective. I can't wait to hear back from you! And hang in there, this will all blow over, as most things have a tendency to do._

_~Doctor Kai Taylor~_

"Any riveting emails from all your secret agent friends?" Anna asked, wrapping her arms around Elsa's waist.

"Aside from world changing news? No."

"World changing? Do tell!"

She stood up and gave Anna an excitable glomp. "We have to celebrate! I know a great place up in Vancouver to have dinner, let's go for the weekend!"

"We're going out of the country? Sign me up!"

* * *

Monday came in all its gloomy misery as Mondays usually did. Elsa slept terribly Sunday night after her apartment turned into a total disaster. After returning from Vancouver late Sunday afternoon, she and Anna had worked tirelessly on all the new information Doctor Taylor had sent them, along with her new theory on entropy, and now her apartment was covered in chalk, paper, pens, half eaten leftovers . . . She heaved a sigh. Her first students were streaming in the door, rushing in after realizing they had only one minute left before she locked the door. She couldn't help a small smirk. She trained them well.

The morning proved more difficult than usual, for though she had her three lattes with Anna, her mind was filled with formulas, equations, entropy, black holes, the Big Bang Theory . . . and of course squeezed in there quite comfortably, Anna. It felt strange being so unsure of her future. She thought she'd always wanted to be a teacher, but of late she was beginning to question her decision to be a professor. She wanted to devote her time to the amazing new discoveries streaming out of CERN, but her busy work schedule did not allow it. Yet another reason to be frustrated.

After her final class of the day—General Physics—she practically launched herself at Anna when the rest of the class filed out.

"I have hardly been able to teach I'm so excited!" she said while fumbling with her laptop. "Come on, let's go to room 103. The university pretty much gave it to me because there are nine chalkboards in there. Ideas have been coming to me all day and I need to write some down!"

"Whoa there turbo! Don't overload your brain!" Anna laughed. "I'll have my friend Olaf bring us dinner because I know there's no way I'll be able to drag you away from the chalkboard long enough to grab something. Want anything in particular? No? Good. Pizza it is."

Elsa opened her mouth to say something but stopped and grinned. "You know, I've never actually had pizza."

Anna stopped dead in her tracks and stared. "_What?_ Who the hell has never had pizza?"

"My parents were health-food fanatics. I didn't have my first bit of chocolate until I was sixteen. Doctor Taylor gave me some of his Symphony bar. I have been in love with chocolate ever since. He used to always keep one in the desk in his office."

"Well then, I'll have Olaf bring chocolate too! Seriously—" she glanced down the hall and noted the presence of people,

"—'Professor,' you need to get out more."

Elsa gave her a grateful smile. "I am a bit of a recluse, aren't I? With all this new information streaming out of CERN, it's probably only going to get worse."

"That's what I'm for, didn't you know?" Anna's eyes gleamed with a flirtation that lit a fire in Elsa's core. "Someone's gotta keep you from becoming a creepy lurker like the Phantom of the Opera."

"You know, it always bothered me a bit that the Phantom stalked an underage girl her whole life."

"Lucky for you I'm not underage then," Anna replied with a saucy smile.

* * *

A few minutes later they were situated in the chalkboard room, and Anna pulled her ever-present phone out of her pocket. She began seriously questioning the decision to purchase the phone; it seemed to follow her wherever she went.

"Is your friend Olaf interested in physics at all?" Elsa asked.

"Hardly. But he doesn't mind playing delivery boy if there's free pizza involved."

She flipped open her phone.

Anna: [_Hey Devil, in the mood for pizza?_]

Olaf: [_I'm always in the mood for pizza_.]

Anna: [_Lol Why did I ask? Next question. Want to meet Elsa?_]

Olaf: [_Whoa, for real? Wait, where are you?_]

Anna: [_Room 103 in the physics hall._]

Olaf: [_You sure that's a good idea? I don't want the ass wipe Dean stopping by and being an ass wipe._]

Anna: [_LOL we're working on the Hawking Formula and some other nerdy physics stuff, so he'd have no reason to suspect. Anyway wanna grab some pizza and chocolate? We're going to be here a while._]

Olaf: [_Anything for you babe. I don't have to stay do I? Physics shit will put me right off to sleep_.]

Anna: [_Lol no, not if you don't want._]

Olaf: [Sweet. I'll grab the usual. And what kind of chocolate?]

Anna: [_Symphony bar. The one in the blue wrapping stuff._]

Olaf: [_On it_.]

Anna: [_Thanks babe!_]

She pocketed her phone and quickly stepped ahead of Elsa to open the door for her.

"After you, Professor Winters," she grinned.

"Why thank you, Miss Summers," Elsa replied with an equally bright grin.

They began setting up their laptops and prepare the chalk. Halfway through writing some formulas, Anna felt a hand on her arm. She glanced over her shoulder just as Elsa pressed her lips to her neck. Her forehead lightly hit the chalkboard and she turned to putty in Elsa's embrace. She logically knew that it was a bad idea to show such affection while still in the building, but she suddenly lacked the will power to stop Elsa. A soft groan escaped her lips when Elsa's hands slithered to the sides of her waist and began stoking up and down, getting closer and closer to her breasts . . .

Both of them jumped when they heard footsteps down the hall. Quickly pulling away, Elsa busied herself on her laptop and Anna immediately went back to scribbling on the chalkboards. The door swung open and the unwelcome face of the Dean greeted them.

"Doctor Westleton," Anna formally greeted him. "Care to join us? We just started working on some information Doctor Taylor has been sending Doctor Winters from CERN."

He scrutinized her for an uncomfortable few seconds then turned to Elsa without answering her question. "Doctor Winters, why have you chosen to work with an undergraduate whose major is not even astrophysics about such material? Miss Summers has yet to even declare a major."

"Miss Summers has not declared a major, but she has well over twenty credits in various physics departments across the world. She has even studied with some of the top professors in Europe. She is more than qualified to assist me on this project. Not only that, but it is my opinion she is the brightest student in this university. I can think of no one more qualified than she."

"Under the circumstances I do not believe—" he started, but he stopped when Olaf entered the room.

"Why hello Mister Dean," Olaf said rather irreverently. "Er, sorry I guess I mean Doctor Westleton."

Looking slightly ruffled, the Dean looked to Olaf, who stood in the doorway with a pizza box and a bag of sodas in his hands. Olaf was wearing his usual placid smile.

"And who might you be?" the Dean asked tersely.

"Olaf Solan," he replied. "Architecture major."

"And why would an architecture student be present to a physics meeting?" Doctor Westleton pressed.

"I'm the boyfriend." He gestured to Anna with a nod. "I'm moral support, 'cause that's what boyfriends do."

Anna had to stifle a laugh when she saw the Dean's face. He looked like he'd dunked his face in a vat of red dye he blushed so hard.

"You are courting Miss Summers?" he stammered.

"Last time I checked. Hey Anna, are you still my girlfriend?"

"Yes Olaf," she quickly jumped in.

The Dean cleared his voice a little too loudly. "Very well, I will leave you all to it. Update me if you find any new information, Doctor Winters."

Elsa nodded, but her eyes betrayed her wariness. But the Dean did not seem to take notice as he walked stiffly out of the room.

Waiting until they could no longer hear the man's footsteps, they all let out a tense sigh. When Olaf set their food down, Anna latched onto him and gave him a fierce hug.

"Thank you so much, I owe you one Devil!" she exclaimed, happily kissing him on the cheek.

"Don't mention it. I never liked that ass anyway. The only other time I met him, he was an ass to me. I kinda suspect he thinks he's better than everyone."

Anna crossed to Elsa and ran a hand between her shoulder blades. "You okay?"

Elsa closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I am now. Thank you Mr. Solan, I am indebted to you."

"Oh God, please call me Olaf. I mean, if you weren't Anna's girlfriend I'd totally respect that you call students by their last names, but friends call me Olaf. Or Devil."

"Devil?" Elsa asked with an adorable tilt of her head. Anna just about pounced on her it was so cute.

"Yeah, in the video game 'Devil May Cry,' there's a character named Dante that is frighteningly similar to myself. The original, of course, not that new 'DMC' bullshit. So anyway, my friends started calling me Devil."

"I have never played video games," Elsa commented.

Anna and Olaf both stared for several moments. Olaf broke the silence saying, "Holy shit you gotta get out more. Anna, we got work to do."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Anna noticed something. She and Elsa always made love three times a day for the past . . . well since they started making love. What was it with Elsa and the number three? It only distracted her thoughts for a moment before Elsa's demanding lips brought her back to the present. It happened to cross her mind during round three of their daily lovemaking sessions which they were currently working on.

Anna was sitting on the desk in Elsa's office, her legs spread wide while Elsa violated her in the most delicious way with such very clever fingers. They had planned to make love when they got home, but, as was usual for the past month, they were working so late they couldn't wait until they got back to one of their apartments. The building was empty, save for a few D&D role-players and a few desperate students studying the late night away so they weren't really all that concerned about being heard.

Elsa had at least had the presence of mind to lock the door right before putting her hand in Anna's underwear. The look Elsa had given her before doing so was enough to make Anna wet with alarming immediacy. Elsa had never learned the fine art of concealing her desire, given her upbringing, and in moments like these, Anna wouldn't have it any other way. Elsa's eyes looked so wantonly naked with desire it made Anna's chest ache and her core burn.

Anna involuntarily arched into her lover's touch when two nimble fingers penetrated deep within and caressed the most pleasurable spot within. Stars exploded across her vision.

"Elsa . . .!" she groaned into her lover's ear, digging her fingertips into Elsa's shoulders.

As soon as the word escaped her lips she could feel inevitability climbing its way through her core. She writhed beneath Elsa, helpless, lost in her lover's arms.

"Come for me, Anna," Elsa purred.

As if obeying the sweetly whispered request, Anna's body obliged. A groan filled with ecstasy spilled from her lips and her body convulsed as her orgasm tore through her body like a wildfire. Her fingertips dug into the bare skin beneath Elsa's blouse in a vain attempt to control the pleasure flowing through her.

"God, Elsa, stop. I can't take any more," she panted, placing her hand over her lover's hand to stop the movement. With an extremely pleased smile on her lips, Elsa kissed her cheek.

"You were just so beautiful. I didn't want it to end," she said, continuing to shower soft kisses on Anna's cheek and neck. She moved her fingers ever so slightly inside Anna causing her to convulse and groan again. She tightened her arms around Elsa.

"God Elsa . . ." She reversed their positions with a growl pushing Elsa up against the desk. _'Time for a bit of payback,' _she thought with a devious grin.

She kissed her way down Elsa's body and paused when she reached her waist to push up her skirt. Elsa sat back on the desk and slung her left leg over Anna's shoulder while Anna slid lacey underwear down and out of her way. It fell to the floor, forgotten. She purred in appreciation when she saw how swollen and aroused Elsa was. She then dipped her head and slid her tongue between her folds. Elsa rewarded her with a sharp intake of breath and Anna took the opportunity to slide two fingers inside her.

Anna basked in the sounds escaping Elsa's kiss-darkened lips. Sliding her free hand up Elsa's leg, Anna pushed them further apart and sealed her lips around Elsa's swollen bud. She loved making Elsa spread her legs, especially when she was wearing a skirt. Elsa's back arched into her, another sweet groan escaping those impossibly beautiful lips. Anna doubled her efforts with her tongue and dug her fingers deeper within Elsa.

Anna felt Elsa's fingers dig into her hair as her lover rode her orgasm with deliciously sweet groans and ragged breath. Anna reveled, for the third time that day, in the sensation of Elsa's walls contracting against her tongue and fingers. Anna moaned against Elsa in sheer pleasure of the entire experience. Nothing was more beautiful in the universe than having Elsa orgasm in her mouth, in her humble opinion.

When Elsa's climax passed, Anna climbed up her lover and they collapsed on the desk, leaving her fingers inside Elsa to catch the remnants of her contractions. Elsa's perfect piles of paperwork crashed unceremoniously to the floor but they took no notice of it.

After several minutes of heavy breathing, Anna said, "Where did that come from? Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

Elsa bit her lower lip and blushed. "You licked your finger when you got a little bit of ice cream on it. It was sexy."

Anna's eyebrow shot up. "_This_ happened from licking my finger?" she asked in amazement. "I need to lick my fingers more often. Or _yours_," she added, waggling her eyebrows.

Elsa rolled her eyes but kissed her anyway. "Oh yes, speaking of ice cream," Anna continued, glancing over at their TCBY containers, "I think it has melted beyond repair."

"Pity," Elsa said. Her eyes in no way conveyed pity on the matter. "But it was sweet of you to bring it. I've never so thoroughly enjoyed ice cream."

"Mmm, me either," Anna agreed with a smile and kissed her again.

After several more moments of soft kisses, Elsa moaned in frustration. "I want bed. And you in bed. And us in bed. This desk is about as comfortable as an asteroid."

"Okay, first, you are such a nerd, and second, are you sure you can handle _four_ times in one day? Your O.C.D. might explode."

"It's midnight," Elsa said haughtily. "Ergo, we've reset the three-times-a-day limit."

"Let me reiterate the word 'nerd' here."

Elsa pulled a face, but lacked the strength to follow through with any real consequences. Anna snickered. "Did I finally wear you out? Who says miracles don't happen?"

"Oh stop," Elsa grinned, gently pushing Anna off. She whined about it, but it felt good to be off the uncomfortable "asteroid" desk.

"Oh my," Anna said upon seeing the mess of paper on the floor. She bent down to help pick it up, but Elsa stopped her.

"Leave it," she said.

"What? Really?" Anna asked in surprise. Usually Elsa wouldn't be able to sleep knowing there was something unsorted in her realm of existence.

"I can clean it tomorrow. Right now, I want you in my arms, in a nice, warm, comfortable, _private_ bed. And I don't want to have to worry about noise," she added seductively.

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" Anna said, placing another fiery kiss on her lover's lips.

"Not in the last hour, at very least," Elsa replied between kisses.

"Well in that case, I love you Elsa Winters," Anna whispered.

"I love you more," Elsa replied.

Anna giggled. "Oh you do, do you?"

"Mmm yes," Elsa said with a soft growl, pulling Anna back in for another series of kisses.

"Says who?" Anna asked, her mischievous grin widening. She slid her fingers in Elsa's luxurious platinum hair and gently massaged the back of Elsa's neck.

"Me. And you can't argue because I'm always right. It's an occupational hazard."

Anna laughed. "Oh my sweet Elsa. You certainly were right about one thing. We need to get home so I can get you in bed."

They did exactly that, forgetting all about the messy desk and TCBY. They had more pressing matters on their minds.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Okay so someone just left an anonymous review bitching that I stole this fic from someone in the Kannazuki no Miko archive. Just to be clear: I would like to point out that I **AM** the writer of this fic LOL. I moved it over to this archive because I'm an aspiring writer and I wanted to see what a different following would think of the story. Anime fans tend to be very different from "main stream" fans, so I am basically seeing if my writing appeals to a wider audience. So y'all calm down. I am the original writer of this story, thus why it's no longer in the Kannazuki no Miko archive lol. You can't have the same story in two archives, otherwise I would have left it there as well.

**Chapter Eleven**

Dr. Westleton stalked the halls of his university in a particularly irritable mood. Dr. Winters had been asked to interview with the Popular Science Magazine about her insulting design of her computer battery. He had devoted thirty years of his life he had devoted to the University of Washington, worked hard to get where he was, taught thousands of students. And then along comes some supposed "savant" gets credit for everything and probably a multi-million dollar endorsement with Diehard or Duracell? It was preposterous and insulting. As if on cue, he walked passed her office. He stopped and glanced through the open door.

Her office was in disarray. Odd. Her normally immaculate desk was disorganized and two stacks of papers had fallen to the floor. Two containers of completely melted ice cream also lay spilled on the carpet. His mind came to only two possible conclusions. Either a student had broken in and attempted to change a grade on a bad paper, or . . .

He hustled off to his desk to confirm his suspicion. Upon reaching his office, he sat down at his computer and pulled up the camera activity of the hall from the night before. He set the time stamp for nine o'clock, her usual time for stopping by her office before leaving for the night. He watched it on high speed for a minute or so, then stopped it at 10:15 when he saw her walking down the hallway. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the student, Anna Summers, walking next to her. They were carrying ice cream containers and stopped outside Winters's office. They talked for a minute or so, Summers licked her finger, then Winters suddenly pushed the other against the office door with a forceful kiss.

He watched in offended shock as their behavior continued for another minute, then Winters pulled Summers into her office and the door slammed shut. After a few moments of stunned silence, a sneer spread across his face like a bad infection.

"I have you now, Dr. Winters," he said triumphantly.

* * *

"What's Switzerland like?" Elsa asked after taking a sip of her morning caramel latte. She sat opposite Anna at a small table in their favored Starbucks nearest to UW. Elsa crossed her legs and ran her foot up Anna's leg, giving her a seductive smile.

Anna undressed Elsa with her eyes for a moment before replying, "Beautiful. The Alps are incredible. Think 'The Sound of Music,' times a million."

"I've never-."

"Wait, don't tell me," Anna interrupted. "You've never seen it."

"Sorry," Elsa said, slightly downcast. It was frustrating at times being so street-dumb.

Anna reached across the table and placed her hand on Elsa's. "I'm teasing you, love. But I think I know what movie to watch tonight."

Elsa gave her a cheeky smile. "Okay 'dear.'"

They finished their morning coffee and blueberry muffins and headed to the campus. At some point Anna decided Elsa ate "way too healthily," and ever since, they'd added muffins and ice cream to their weekly diet. To balance the new delicious unhealthiness, Elsa had introduced Anna to homemade vegetable juice. Anna had been pleasantly willing to add it to her diet without a word of protestation. Then again, it didn't surprise Elsa. Anna was very good at doing what Elsa wanted. Very. Good.

They were headed to Elsa's office when she heard her cell phone chirp informing her she'd received a new email. She checked it and pulled a face.

"Dr. Westleton wants to talk to me," she moaned. "I'll see you in class?"

"Miss you already," Anna replied and gave her a quick kiss before they parted ways.

Elsa's smile lingered all the way to the dean's office, but it vanished when she saw him. He had a cold, calculating expression on his face. Accusatory.

"Sit down," he commanded without greeting.

"I have class in thirty minutes, Dr. Westleton and I need to prepare some things. Can this wait?"

"Sit," he repeated more forcefully.

She debated with herself for approximately 2.9 seconds. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of having control of the situation, but he was making her nervous. She sank slowly into the chair across his desk. A subtle scowl spread across his mouth.

"I seem to recall giving you ample warning about this university's policy regarding professor/student relationships."

"Indeed you did," she said. She tried making her face appear less terrified than her stomach felt.

"Then apparently you misunderstood me," he said and pushed his monitor around to face her.

Her mouth went dry when she saw herself and Anna outside her office the night before. A few moments later she watched herself push Anna against the door and kiss her.

Damn cameras. Damn the dean for checking the damn cameras. And damn ice cream!

"I notice Miss Summers has exceptionally good grades in your classes," he continued, obviously pleased with himself. "One might think she has an unfair advantage."

She pushed the monitor back around. "Anna is a brilliant student; that's why she has 'exceptionally good grades.' There are no policies in place saying two consenting adults cannot be together. That ridiculous rule was overturned years ago, Dr. Westleton. I will not apologize for my actions for I have done nothing wrong."

"You don't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation, Dr. Winters," he said and his scowl widened. "This could very easily ruin Miss Summers' academic future with the University of Washington."

Elsa's brow furrowed in concern when she realized his intent. "What do you want, Dr. Westleton?"

"Your computer battery."

"What?!" she almost shouted.

"You heard me," he snapped. "I want the rights to it. I want you to make a public statement saying you stole the idea from the University of Washington."

"You're blackmailing me?" she asked in total disbelief. "Dr. Westleton. You're the dean of a very prestigious university, not a conman thug. This behavior is beneath you."

"_This_ behavior-" he pushed the monitor back around, "-is beneath us all."

"You can't do this. I _made_ that battery." Elsa clenched her fist. If it was war he wanted, she was fully prepared to go to battle.

"You made that battery with campus recourses and, if I'm not mistaken. You were aided by several engineers here. I fail to see how the battery _doesn't_ belong to the university."

"I have already arranged for the three engineers who helped me to each receive ten percent of the profits once I patent it. And as for campus recourses, I have already reimbursed it. Check the books. Honestly Dr. Westleton, did you really think I wouldn't do my due diligence on this project? My I.Q. is over 180 and you think I would risk losing this battery concept over a technical error in bookkeeping?"

"Interestingly, I couldn't seem to find anything in the books. Funny how those things have a way of disappearing. Paper trails are so difficult to follow, aren't they?"

Elsa rose out of her chair. She didn't know what came over her in that moment, but something snapped. She'd had enough. She'd reached her limits.

"I quit."

Dr. Westleton stared blankly at her. "What?"

"You heard me," she shot back. "I'll have my letter of resignation on your desk by the end of the day. For the sake of my students I will complete the quarter, since it's only two weeks away."

"You can't-," he started but she cut him off.

"No. _You_ can't take Anna from me, you can't take my intellectual property, and you most _certainly_ cannot blackmail me, Dr. Westleton."

She didn't wait to hear his stuttering rebuke. Turning on her heels, she strode from his office, head held high.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Elsa walked silently to her office, closed the door, and sat down at her desk. Then she leaned over and vomited into her garbage bin. She felt exhilarated for standing up for herself, but terrified of her suddenly unknown future. It became quite apparent her body couldn't handle the excitement. At all. She was shaking from head to toe. She put her face in her hands and coughed miserably.

She heard her office door open and growled her annoyance. "I have nothing more to say to you, Doctor Wes-," she started, but she stopped when she saw Anna standing in the doorway. "Oh! I-I'm sorry." She tried in vain to brush her tears away.

"Elsa?" Anna said, her voice filled with concern. "Oh sweetie, what happened?"

"Dr. Westleton s-saw us outside my office last night," she replied. Her voice was raw and her throat ached from dry heaving.

And then Anna's arms were around her and suddenly everything felt so much better. Elsa melted into the redhead and buried her face in the other's shoulder. When her shaking settled down, Elsa told Anna everything about their kiss in the hall, Dr. Westleton's attempted blackmail, and was about to tell Anna what she had done in response, when Anna looked down and saw the garbage can.

"Whoa, did you throw up?"

Elsa sniffed and nodded.

"Oh, sweetie," Anna said, gently wiping Elsa's tears away, "what's going on? Why did you throw up?"

"I . . . quit."

"Quit?" Anna's brow furrowed in confusion. "Quit what?"

"My job. I told Dr. Westleton I'd have my resignation in by the end of the day."

Anna blinked several times. "Okay . . ." She pulled away to rifle through her backpack and a moment later produced a bottle of water. "Drink," she said gently.

Elsa did so while Anna stood and closed the door. After taking a deep, calming breath, she glanced at the clock. "Don't you have class?" Elsa asked.

"My first class isn't for an hour. I remembered we messed up your office, so I came to clean it up."

"You did?" Elsa sniffed again.

Anna knelt back down in front of Elsa and ran her hands up the outside of Elsa's thighs. "Of course. I'd do anything for you."

Elsa rested her forehead against Anna's. "I love you."

"Why did you throw up, Baby? What did he do to you? Do I need to get Olaf and go down there and have some 'words' with him?"

"He didn't. I am just incapable of dealing with confrontation. I've been like this since I was a child. My parents learned quickly that they couldn't yell at me as a form of punishment. It had a tendency to induce vomiting."

Anna let out a soft laugh. "Oh, my sweet, sensitive Elsa. You're adorable."

Elsa leaned forward and gave Anna a lingering kiss. It did wonders toward making her feel better.

"Come on," Anna said, standing up. "We're playing hooky."

"Hooky? What's that?"

"Ugh. I know you grew up under a monumentally large rock, but come on. You've never heard that expression?"

Elsa gave her a blank stare.

Anna rolled her eyes in mock-exasperation. "It means skip classes for the rest of the day. Go AWOL. Vanish. Vamoose. Verschwinden. Call in pretending we're sick when really we just wanted to stay home and have sex all day. You know, hooky."

"Oh I couldn't do that to my students. They're expecting me. They paid money for my classes," she said, crestfallen.

"You're ahead of your itinerary on all of your classes. You can miss a day," Anna argued. "Besides, you're quitting. So who cares? It's not like the dean can fire you."

"I don't want to give Dr. Westleton the satisfaction."

"Ah. Good reason. Damn."

Elsa glanced at her watch then leapt to her feet. "My class is about to start, speaking of."

She fumbled with her laptop and bag for a few seconds then wiped her tears away. When she finished pulling herself together, Anna stopped her at the door.

"Hey. It's going to be okay. We'll figure everything out tonight, okay? How about your place after work, I'll bring dinner?"

Elsa leaned into Anna's arms and hugged her for as long as time would allow. "Okay."

* * *

By the time Elsa got home, she was so drained she crossed straight to her couch and flopped down without so much as taking off her shoes or jacket. A few minutes later she heard the door softly open and close and let out a sight of relief when she felt Anna's soft lips on the back of her neck.

"I have no idea why I quit like that," Elsa admitted.

"I'm pretty sure once your battery hits the market, you aren't going to need the money."

"My parents gave me a considerable inheritance when I turned twenty one. Money has never been the issue. I just . . . I get bored very easily. What in the world am I going to do with myself?"

"Party! Have some fun! See the world!" Anna replied without hesitation.

"Anna you don't understand. The one time my parents left me alone for the weekend, I built a particle accelerator in their basement. I can't function without some kind of goal."

"You . . . you built a particle accelerator in their _basement_?" Anna asked, her face incredulous. "Did it . . . did it work?"

"I never finished it. I had all their computers plugged into it and was about to turn it on when they got home. It is now on display at the Pacific Science Center."

"No way. Are you kidding me?" Elsa blinked. Anna laughed. "Forget I asked. I should know better. You are so adorable I can hardly stand it. And as far as 'things to do,' I definitely have a few ideas."

Elsa rolled onto her back and arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Anna began peeling off Elsa's coat. "Yes. And most of my ideas don't involve clothes. We can worry about life tomorrow. Tonight, I'm afraid, our schedule is too full."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Elsa woke to the sun cheerfully blasting her face and groaned into her pillow. The rest of the week at the university had been miserable, between informing her students of her resignation and avoiding Dr. Westleton. After giving him her letter of resignation, he promptly threatened to fine her tens of thousands of dollars for breaking her contract. She had a minimum three-year contract. It had seemed like a great idea at the time. She hadn't exactly planned to quit. But money wasn't an issue. If he wanted to fine her, she didn't care as long as it meant getting away from him.

But now it was Saturday and she had nothing to do with herself. Anna was unable to spend the night due to a pile of school work and a late-night study group for one of her classes. So now Elsa was left to her own devices. She glanced at the clock. It was 6:33 in the morning. She knew Anna well enough to know it would be sometime before her lover showed up. Anna had quite the habit of sleeping in late on weekends. It seemed to be a student thing.

Elsa made her way into the kitchen and began making herself a couple shots of espresso. Since Anna took the liberty of showing her how to properly make caramel lattes, Elsa found she liked coffee much more than she used to. Instead of being a horrible, yet necessary part of her morning ritual, it was now a wonderfully pleasant part of her morning.

A grin worked its way into Elsa's lips. Anna had a magical way of making everything seem better. She glanced down at the "Doctor Who" Tardis mug Anna had left at her apartment and now was currently using. Even a show as scientifically impossible as that, was wonderful and better with Anna around. It made her want to build a whole Tardis for Anna.

"If only the physics of making it 'bigger on the inside' weren't so ludicrously impossible," she sighed aloud to herself.

She was about to let the thought go when another thought struck her. She couldn't exactly make a real Tardis, but she _could _fashion something after the "police box" similar to the mug she was currently using.

The first thought that popped into her head was Anna's laptop. Unfortunately that was currently with Anna, but Elsa had the next best thing: Anna's tablet.

* * *

Anna arrived at Elsa's apartment to a mess of colossally epic proportions. Not only was it incredibly unexpected, but also more than a little shocking, considering how clean and tidy Elsa normally was. Anna blinked several times, trying to take in the strange scene before her. Her lover was sitting on the floor in the middle of her living room, surrounded by a dozen cans of blue spray paint and a pile of giant slabs of cardboard, and white printer paper. The floor was covered in newspaper, and a mess of electronics was strewn out all over the coffee table.

"Elsa?" Anna asked, taking a hesitant step into the apartment.

Elsa looked up and Anna nearly burst out laughing at the sight. Her lover looked more than a little disheveled, and she had blue smudges all over her face and hands. Anna had never seen Elsa's hair looking quite so messy (with the possible exception of vigorous lovemaking sessions), and she was holding a can of spray paint like it was the most important thing in the whole universe.

"Not done yet!" Elsa exclaimed, then went back to spraying the cardboard.

Anna glanced at the open window and was glad to see Elsa at least had the presence of mind to have a large fan blowing in for ventilation.

"What in the world are you doing?" Anna demanded, trying in vain to wave some of the paint fumes away.

"You're home too soon!" Elsa replied, looking crestfallen. "I was going to paint your tablet to look like a Tardis, but then I decided it would be more fun to program you a whole Doctor Who app in your tablet, but then I thought it would be even more fun to just make you a whole cardboard Tardis."

Anna couldn't help it anymore. She burst into a fit of giggles that soon escalated into full-blown hysterical laughter.

"Who wins the 'Has the Most Adorkable Girlfriend in the World' award? Me!" Anna exclaimed when she managed to catch her breath. She tossed her backpack on the floor and launched herself at Elsa.

They tumbled back on the floor in a mess of limbs, spray paint, cardboard, and paper, and somehow their lips ended up locked. The kiss was violent and hungry and filled with promise of things to come. Anna let out a hungry growl when she felt Elsa's curious hands find their way to the zipper of her jeans. Anna propped herself up on her elbow, then used her other hand to roughly unbutton and unzip Elsa's jeans, then shoved her hand inside.

"God, Elsa," she whispered against Elsa's lips when she felt her lover's wetness pooling through the thin fabric of her underwear. "Wet already, love?"

"Anna . . ." Elsa mewled against her lips, "Please."

"Mmm, wet _and_ begging already?" Anna continued, slipping her hand beneath Elsa's underwear to feel her prize. "God I love you."

Just when one of Anna's fingers made its way inside her lover's body, Elsa's cell phone rang loudly from the couch, startling them both. Anna buried her face in Elsa's shoulder with a frustrated growl.

"I'm going to destroy your phone," she murmured, latching onto Elsa's neck with her teeth.

Elsa let out what sounded like a squeak of dismay. "Oh! I'm sorry, Anna, but that's Dr. Taylor's ringtone! And he's on a different time zone, so talking to him on the phone is really d-difficult."

Anna felt a pulse of arousal when she heard Elsa stumble on the last word. She loved making the normally articulate and eloquent Elsa lose her words.

"Better make your conversation fast, love," Anna whispered. "Or I may have to finish you off before you're finished talking to him."

Elsa let out another longing groan before untangling herself and scrambling to her phone. "Hello?"

"Dr. Winters?" Anna heard Dr. Taylor's voice in the phone say. "It's Dr. Taylor. How are you, are you okay?"

"Dr. Taylor, hi! It's good to hear from you," she replied. She moved back to the floor to lay next to Anna, but Anna stopped her. "I am well," she continued, adjusting accordingly when Anna pulled Elsa on top of her. "How are you?"

"A colleague of mine at UW said you've resigned. What happened? Did Dr. Westleton do something to you?"

Anna openly smirked when Elsa bit her lip to keep herself from groaning after she ran her tongue along Elsa's neck. "He attempted to blackmail me so I quit. He tried claiming my battery belonged to the university. Then he tried using Anna as leverage, then I quit."

Soft laughter came from the other end. "Oh Dr. Winters. I have always admired your bravery. Coincidentally, your timing couldn't be more perfect."

She coughed politely to stifle a gasp when Anna's thumbs began caressing her nipples. "H-how so?"

"CERN wants you," he replied.

"What?" she said, sitting up abruptly. Anna growled softly in annoyance.

"The board of directors has been reviewing your work with the Hawking Formula and your notes on the material I've been sending you, and they were very impressed. I put in a good word for you with the director, next thing I know he's asking when you'd be able to move to Switzerland to start working here."

"The d_irector_ of CERN wants _me_ to work there?" she repeated, disbelief evident all over her face. "You're not serious. Are you serious?"

Anna stopped what she was doing and stared in shock along with Elsa. Elsa moving to Switzerland . . .?

"Quite," Dr. Taylor replied.

"Doesn't he want to . . . to . . . I mean," she stammered, then stopped herself. "Doesn't the director want to at least interview me or something?"

"He wants to fly you to Switzerland to work out the details at your earliest convenience. Oh Elsa, I know you hate to travel, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime, especially with all the discoveries happening right now. Please consider all of this before making a decision."

"Dr. Taylor . . . can I call you back? I need to talk to Anna about this before I say yes. Is that okay?"

"Of course! Based on everything you've said about her, she'll talk you into saying yes."

Anna felt a swell of pride when Elsa smiled shyly at that response. "That is very likely. I'll talk to you soon. And thank you, Dr. Taylor."

"My pleasure. And Elsa?"

"Yes?"

"It may be too soon, but I don't care. Welcome to CERN."

Her smile widened as she hung up her phone.

"Did I just hear you right?" Anna asked, her whole face beaming with pride. "Were you just _personally_ invited to work for CERN?"

"Maaaaaaybe," Elsa said with another shy grin. Then a look of concern rippled across her face. "But I . . . Anna. I don't want to. That is, I _won't_ go without you."

"Why, Professor Winters. Are you asking me to move to _Switzerland_ with you?" Anna asked, fighting back a blush attempting to permeate her face.

"I . . . I . . . that is . . . I know it would be a huge change and a _big_ step in our relationship, but I jus-"

Anna cut her off by pulling her down into an fierce kiss.

"Yes," Anna whispered around her lover's lips. "Hell yes I will move to Switzerland with you."

Anna felt Elsa smile into the kiss and deepened it. They celebrated the good news by making love the rest of the night, over and over. Anna was happy of course about the offer from CERN, but that wasn't what made her heart smile as it was smiling now. Elsa had said just asked her to start a life together in Switzerland. Nothing else in the world could have made Anna more happy than hearing that one small question uttered from those beautiful lips.


End file.
